Shimmering Lights
by HardHatRocker
Summary: A veteran thrust into Equestria. The Mane 6 vanish without a trace. A Unicorn who's the key to it all and the best part is: He doesn't even know it. Rated M for suggestive themes, drug use, violence, crude humor, etc. AU, 2 OC main characters.
1. Chapter 0

**AUTHORS PROLOGUE**

**Welcome to Shimmering Lights! This fic is going to be very long, I will not be splitting it into separate parts, and I will not be updating on a regular basis. What I _will _do is write for at least a half hour every morning and evening and when I feel the chapter has covered what it needs to and is of sufficient length, I'll post it. Reviews are welcome, THE MANE 6 WILL NOT BE PART OF THE STORY UNTIL AT LEAST CHAPTER 100. This story will cover the whole expanse of both planets, it will have politics, action, sex scenes, moments of which could be traumatizing to read. I will warn you before graphic content, like such:**

**(GC ahead, ctrl+f "GCOVER" to skip)**

**Reveiws are not mandatory for me to keep writing, though they do motivate. I won't be having authors notes on every chapter, I won't be making excuses for why I haven't updated in a while. This will be seen through until the end. **

**So I hope to spark the interest of the audience with this much darker version of Equestria that comes after the prologue, and MAY THE GAMES BEGIN.**

**~HHR**

CHAPTER 0: Pony Powered Prologue(Arrival of the Fittest)

The land of Equestria was peaceful, as usual. Being primarily populated by multicolored, innocent ponies will usually do that to a place. War was far from its borders, and the two princesses ruled with a kind and loving grasp of the nation. Princess Celestia, the alicorn who ruled over the day and rose the sun, was getting ready to pass the watch over to Princess Luna, the alicorn sister of Celestia and ruler of the night and moon, so that she might keep guard over the evening. The two royal sisters worked in harmony, each wishing the best upon their nation and protecting it during the hours during which they represent. Celestia, as the embodiment of daylight and the sun, bore a white coat, with light pastel colours adorning her flowing mane and tail. Luna, the opposite, had a dark blue-greyish coat, with her mane appearing to shimmer like the night sky itself. Both sisters, as alicorns, donned the magical horns of unicorns, and the powerful wings of the pegasi.

A long time ago, more than 1000 years earlier to that evening, catastrophe struck the beautiful country in the form of Nightmare Moon. This mare was the incarnate of the anger and jealousy fostered by Luna, towards her older sister. See, Luna was the ruler of the night. Celestia, in turn, was ruler of the day. When Luna grew to see that all the subjects loved and adored Celestia for being the bringer of light and daytime, her emotion bottled inside of her at the sadness of being the ruler of a sleeping nation.

Eventually, this emotion broke free and the Princess took a new form, Nightmare Moon. The goal of this tyrannous doppelganger was to shroud Equestria in eternal night. As one might imagine, Celestia would not stand to have her little ponies without the joy and warmth of the sun, and proceeded to banish her little sister's evil incarnation to the moon, for 1000 years. Celestia then took on the role of ruling the whole nation, alone. This wore her down and stressed her to no end, and many nights when she took over her sisters' role she wished she had seen the change in Luna before it was too late. But alas, the duties of royalty are ill-equipped for fostering family-hood and friendship, with the countless political functions and meetings to be dealt with taking up all the time that could be used nurturing a relationship between sisters. It did not help that the nation, while forgetting about Nightmare Moon herself and labelling her a mares tale, celebrated a holiday known as "Nightmare Night", where all the young colts and fillies dressed up and went around to various houses to show off their costumes and receive delicious treats.

A short time before Nightmare Moon's 1000 year banishment was up, Princess Celestia took on a student in the ways of magic, whom was named Twilight Sparkle. This unicorn was very skilled in the manipulation of magic, and was very devoted to making her princess proud by being persistent in her studies. She was a light purple colour, with a darker purple mane that had a streak of pink through it. Twilight read many old texts from the palace library, attempting to study everything she could, which wasn't that bad considering she loved books anyway. During her studies she came upon a legend of 6 magical artifacts, known only as the Elements of Harmony.

Upon researching the Elements she learned about Nightmare Moon, though not of the villain's relation to the princess. Celestia knew about the return of her sister's evil embodiment, and despite that sent Twilight to the small town of Ponyville, in order to oversee the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, a large festival celebrating Celestia's restoring the sun to the land, banishing Nightmare Moon, and the summer solstice. She was also given another assignment, to purge her of her reclusiveness. She was tasked by her teacher with making friends.

When Nightmare Moon returned, she captured Celestia, and plunged Equestria into darkness. Twilight, with the help of 5 ponies she met while preparing for the celebration, ventured into the Everfree Forest, a dangerous place full of monsters and beasts, trials and tests. At the end of a series of gruelling circumstances, the confrontation with Nightmare Moon occurred. During this, Moon got to the Elements first and destroyed them. But the Elements were not just an artifact, they were a force, a power! Destroying the stones did nothing but help Twilight realize the truth behind both the elements, and her new friends:

Applejack, an orange pony with blonde hair and an ever-present cowboy hat, reassured Twilight when she was near certain death, and represents the Element of Honesty.

Fluttershy, a light pink pegasus with a light yellow mane and tail, showed compassion to a fearsome foe whom all the others were set on fighting, and discovered that the manticore simply had a thorn in its paw, making it aggressive. She represents the Element of Kindness.

Pinkie Pie, a bright pink pony with a bushy pink mane and tail, cheered up the group in the scariest part of the forest by "giggling at the ghosties". She represents the Element of Laughter.

Rarity, a white unicorn with a purple mane, made a sacrifice of her own tail for a stranger she hardly knew, without a doubt representing the Element of Generosity.

Rainbow Dash, a blue Pegasus with a rainbow streaked hair pattern, turned down the offer of her dreams to stay true to her friends, representing the Element of Loyalty.

Twilight Sparkle saw the Elements represented within them, which set off a spark of magic. The Elements manifested themselves into gemstones, embedded into necklaces and given to the five ponies. When all 5 of the Elements were present, the 6th appeared to Twilight: The Element of Magic.

Working together with the new power they had gained, the 6 of them banished the evil out of Nightmare Moon, reverting her to Princess Luna. Celestia showed up and explained about what happened a thousand years previously, and asked the Princess to once again rule alongside her (which Luna accepted, of course). Celestia then assigned Twilight to stay in Ponyville to study the magic of friendship.

Over the years, Twilight and her friends conquered many obstacles, whether they be socially sticky situations, community conundrums, vile villains, or personal problems. After one incident involving the repair of the Elements of Harmony, she was visited by Celestia, and made into an alicorn herself, and a princess as well. Princess Twilight returned to Ponyville and, with her augmented power from her recent transformation, gathers together all of her friends to try out a new spell. She plans to use the power of the Elements to further increase the magic output of the spell...

"…just a little to the left, Dashie!" Twilight spoke as she rushed around Ponyville's Library, missing Rainbow's groan as she was attempting to get things into perfect condition for the spell she was so excited to attempt. She had lived in the Library since Celestia had assigned her to make friends, and was she glad she stayed. What started off as a friendship between a few ponies grew into something nopony could expect. The six of them were tighter than a fat pony in spandex, and they loved it. Together they've faced down monsters, tyrants, invading armies, attempted business takeovers, and banishment from the town.

She looked behind her to see her 5 best friends standing around a circle that she had drawn on the ground, with strange symbols and markings in the middle.

"Ah don't mean to be a bother, Twilight, but th'last time we all helped you with a spell, it didn't end all that nice." Applejack commented from her position on the circle. "Ah mean, I trust you and all, but do ya know how ta fix this spell, just in case?"

"Don't worry AJ, I've got it all under control." Twilight replied consolingly, before taking her place in the middle. The horn on her head lit up as she levitated each of the Elements of Harmony from their glass display case to each respective bearer.

"As absolutely breathtaking as these are, don't you think we should check with the princess before using them?" Rarity asked.

"Don't be silly! I am a princess, remember?" Twilight declared with a ruffle of her new wings. She hadn't really gotten that great at flying yet, or even used to her wings, so she mostly walked where she was going. Rainbow Dash was doing the very best she could at giving her flying lessons on the side, but she was never the physical type so advancement from the training was barely visible. If anyone could teach Twilight how to use her new wings, it was Dash. She finally settled the Element of Magic on her head, and took a deep breath in, and back out.

"Okay, let's do this." Twilight declared. "I need all of you to focus, hard, on us six ponies. Try your very best to think of us as one thing, but separate. Think about a week. It's got 7 days, but when somepony says 'a week', we know what 7 days they are talking about. Imagine us as each a day of the week, obviously with 6 instead of 7. Together, we are the Elements of Harmony, and apart, we're all unique. Stick that into your mind, and don't let go of that thought!"

The ponies around the circle all had their eyes closed, with a peaceful look on their faces. "No matter what happens, keep focused!" Twilight exclaimed, closing her eyes as well.

The Elements began to pulse slowly with light as papers started to rustle from the ambient magic in the air. The pulsing began to quicken as the magic in the room continued to grow in chaos. All of a sudden the pulsing stopped with all the elements glowing. The five around Twilight shot out a beam, interconnecting the five and leaving Twilight inside a pentagon of light. The mane 6 rose off the ground, the spell completely in effect at this point. Twilight's horn lit up, and a beam shot from her tiara to the 5 Elements around her. As soon as the beam connected, everypony was flung in the middle towards Twilight, and when they struck, there was a loud *CRACK* and an explosion blew the Library to pieces.

Pegasi rushed to bring clouds over the burning tree to quench the inferno with rain, but it was to be another few hours before the blaze had died down enough to salvage anything. Celestia had seen the explosion from her balcony as she watched over the land, and had come to see what horrible act had brought upon such destruction. Upon seeing the fire at the library she feared the worst for her faithful student, and ran into the burning tree with a protective bubble of magic protecting her from the heat and smoke. She tore through the rubble, pushing piles of burnt biomass out of her way. She heard a breaking sound, and sent another pulse of magic into her shield just in time to repel a huge bookcase from crushing her. Her horn glowed slightly brighter than before and the bookshelf imploded upon itself, going from a ton of weight to nonexistent almost instantaneously.

She continued her dash throughout the burning library only to spot a small silhouette unmoving against the flames, and skidded to a stop, expanding her bubble to accommodate the being before her..

Spike, the dragon, was sitting alone in the middle of the ruins. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, and he let out a pained scream. Celestia looked to his hands and felt her own tears begin to brew. No… No no no nonono… this can't be right, it can't be!

But it was right. It was true. It was Twilight's tiara, scorched from the flames and speckled with burnt blood. It was her Element, the Element of Magic, and the gem within it was gone.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Camp Half-Blood was having a pretty normal day. Well, as normal as a day can be when you have half-god, half-human teenagers willingly climbing a rock wall… with lava flowing down it. All the members of Half-Blood were what would be called "demigods", the term for a child of a Greco-Roman god, and a mortal. Half-Blood is the safe spot for the east of the USA for the demigods, more specifically the destination for those of the Greek descent. As one might guess, demigods are not like normal mortals. For one, most carry on a trait or power of their God parent, effectively making them the realistic version of a super hero. However, with those powers, come great risks; namely the assaults of monsters, typically from Greco-Roman lore, who hone in on the "scent" of demigods. As the power of the god-child increases, so does the power of their scent, resulting in larger and more frequent monster attacks. With all these powered kids running around, it would only make sense that somebody had seen them, and that the Greek world was exposed to the general population, right? Or so it would be, if the demi's in question weren't protected by a force known as The Mist. This essentially covers up the traces of quests and collateral damage done in battles with immortals.

So, why do these unique teens need a safe zone? Camp Half-Blood is fully protected against monster attacks, allowing the demigods to train and learn in relative peace, or at least in a non-fatal area. Most campers only attend during the summer, choosing to go to a normal school and live a normal life the rest of the year. The option for year-round residency is available though, mostly for those who have no home or family to go back to. The campers are sorted into cabins based on their lineage, and the unsorted campers are placed in the Hermes cabin until they are claimed by their God-parent.

It was at the lake nearby that our six ponies would have found themselves, had they not been unconscious upon arrival. It was also 50 meters above this lake that a loud magical thunderclap sourced from, echoing across the camp and distracting the demigods from their dinner. The teens were sat at respective tables that corresponded with their cabin, and all wore the standard orange "Camp Half-Blood" t-shirt. Despite the excited mutterings of his peers around him, one camper immediately stood and started towards the lake, feeling a natural call from deep within his gut. This boy was named Percy Jackson, and he was the son of Poseidon, Lord of the Sea. As he ran, he saw the ending ripples of a splash, and sprinted to the lake, not taking off his clothes before diving right in. As a son of the Sea God, he didn't need to worry about getting wet, or holding his breath. Being under the waves was more at home to Percy than being on dry land, as that is where he was strongest. He was healed by water, comforted by the sea. In the depths of a water body, his control over the element was magnified, as was his perception of the world around him. So it's no surprise that he immediately found our six inter-dimensional travellers almost immediately, and wasted no time propelling them to the shore on a water current he created at a thought.

The ponies were ejected from the lake, landing with a thud on the beach as campers gathered around the six unmoving equines. Percy jetted himself out on a pillar of water, landing beside the ponies and taking a good look. They appeared to be like most other ponies, with a few key differences: Firstly, they looked as if a horse-show fanatic had attempted to dye their coats and manes, one of the ponies even having a rainbow patterned hairstyle. All 6 of them bore some sort of reflective mark on their flanks. The orange pony was adorned with a shining red apple. The light pink one had 3 butterflies that seemed to glisten, the darker pink bequeathed with balloons. The white one had sparkling gemstones, the rainbow-maned one had a cloud with a shimmering rainbow lightning bolt, and the purple one had 3 sparkles on her flank, which constantly twinkled despite her not moving.

Before any of the campers could get a word in, the white unicorn groaned and rolled over onto her stomach. Percy rushed over to her and, as Poseidon is also the father of all horses and passed down the trait of understanding them to his sons and daughters, found it completely normal to ask "are you alright?" to the mare. Let it be known that not a single camper kept a straight face when the unicorn looked at the drenched ground beneath her, and then looked straight up with a thousand-mile stare. She slowly stood on shaky legs, and seeing the lake, walked over to it. She looked down at her reflection, and nobody was prepared for what happened next, the sheer intensity of this one action:

"MY HAIR!" She screamed at a decibel level loud enough to break the surface tension of the water, distorting her image. She fell to the ground in a dramatic pose, with her hoof covering her forehead. "Oh, the horror! The agony of… of…" She paused for just a moment. "I'm hideous!"

The campers stood around in shock at being able to understand what the overly-upset unicorn was saying, as before that point the only one who could understand creatures of the equine nature was Percy. Mostly everyone stood with their figurative jaws on the ground, and one camper stepped forward. Her name was Piper McLean, and she was the head counsellor of the Aphrodite cabin, Goddess of Beauty and Love.

"Now, now, Miss…" Piper trailed of expectantly.

"-sniff- Ra…Rarity" The unicorn replied.

"Rarity. I can see why you're upset, we all" She gestured to the Aphrodite children "know exactly what it's like the have water ruin your looks." Cue glare at Percy.

Rarity allowed herself the pity and nodded weakly.

"We ain't in Equestria no more." Applejack muttered to herself.

Piper reached out to touch her purple mane. "If you ju-." She was interrupted by a flash of rainbow and blue knocking her to the ground.

"Get your paws off my friend!" The blue pony sassed, before looking up to see the whole of the Apollo cabin pointing nocked arrows straight at her. She backed up slowly, coming to a stop where the rest of the ponies were huddled in fear at the weapons being pointed at them.

Chiron, the centaur activities director of Camp Half-Blood, galloped in between the Apollo cabin and the terrified visitors, with a shout of "Weapons down!" At his word, the cabin lowered their bows and went back to watching the spectacle before them unfold.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. I am Chiron" he began. "The first question I need ask is simple, and the rest of today, or your lives hangs in the answer, although if you choose the wrong one, those two options may be one and the same. Be you friend, or foe?"

At the sound of the word 'friend', the darker pink pony leapt up and held out a hoof to Chiron. "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! I don't know what a foe is, but let's be friends!"

The Apollo cabin again raised their bows at the sudden movement, but was motioned again by Chiron to lower their weapons. "And the rest of you?" He said, looking to the other 5 ponies, who replied with frantic nodding.

Chiron sighed. "Lou Ellen, Percy, Piper, come with me. Everyone else, BACK TO THE DINING HALL!" His voice left no room for disagreement, and everyone except the aforementioned three shuffled off with barely concealed mutters and gossip. "Can you all speak?" he was met with another round of hasty nods.

"Do you have names which I can call you by?" He inquired of the group.

The purple winged unicorn stepped forward. "Hello sir, my name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I wish to be the first to thank you for saving us from those monkey-like creatures." Percy winced at these words, while Piper had the decency to hide her expression.

"Those 'monkey-like' creatures just so happen to be the sentient population of this planet, known as Humans, ignorant one." Lou Ellen snapped before anyone else could say a word. "Watch your tongue, horse; else I turn it into a fish!" Both Percy and Twilight looked offended at her words.

"Treat a guest of the camp that way and you'll be on kitchen duty for the rest of the summer. Do I make myself clear?" Chiron scolded the black-haired girl.

Lou Ellen looked back at Chiron with a look of shock. "But… Sir… It called us monkey-like!"

"You are." Chiron deadpanned. "And not it. She." He looked back to Twilight. "And you said Princess?" Twilight nodded again.

"Lou Ellen, you have offended royalty, whether or not it is royalty that you are familiar with. She also appears to be quite sentient, as do her companions." He turned to address the three remaining campers, clearing his throat to pull Pipers death-glare away from the Hecate Counsellor. "Introduce yourselves."

Percy, their saviour, stepped forward and bowed his head to Twilight. "Forgive her, Princess. My name is Perseus Jackson, though you can call me Percy."

Piper stepped forward and, with a smile at Rarity, "I'm Piper McLean. Nice to meet you."

Lou Ellen hmph'd, then spoke"Lou Ellen" rather crossly.

The blue pegasus stepped towards Piper with a bashful grin. "Sorry about that whole tackle thing. A mare's got to look out for her friends, ya know?"

Piper nodded in agreement. "I hear ya there, so don't sweat it."

"Rainbow Dash" she said, holding out her hoof to Piper, who grabbed and shook it with a smile at the equine.

Rarity began to use her magic, and as soon as the purple glow engulfed her horn, everyone watched as the water slid off of her body, her features restoring to their pristine state. "You may call me Rarity, darling." She extended a hoof out to Piper as well, receiving the same treatment as Rainbow Dash before her.

"Howdy there! Ah'm Applejack. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance" The orange pony said with a pony equivalent of a curtsy.

"mumblemumblemumble" was heard from the grapefruit pink pony, which was then interrupted by Rainbow Dash.

"I'll save you all some time, this one's Fluttershy." She said with a lopsided grin.

"Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Princess Twilight Sparkle, right?" Percy asked, pointing to each of them in turn and receiving a collective chorus of confirmations.

The Princess spoke up. "Please, just call me Twilight. I don't want to confuse anypony with titles, when I don't even know where I am."

"Anypony?" Piper inquired.

"Yea, what of it?" Rainbow Dash blurted out.

Chiron stepped in before things could get out of his control, even remotely. "I see a lot of questions are going to be raised. Let us move to a place more comfortable for our guests." He then turned to Lou Ellen.

"We need them to see us and only us, along with our path we take. Can you do that?" He asked her. She nodded, and began chanting and making motions and patterns with her hands. After a minute, her chants grew to a crescendo and with a pop the whites of the eyes of the ponies turned black. At this, the ponies all jumped and Twilight's horn lit up for a couple seconds before the magic was pulled out of their eyes, manifesting in a crackling dark ball the size of a apple, and straight towards the setting sun.

"We will not have spells cast upon us, no matter where we are and whose guest we might be." Twilight said sternly, glaring the the mage in anger. Lou Ellen was just barely hiding her anger and fear behind a mask of indifference. It had taken her a minute to modify the blindness spell to be selective and to even work on a pony, but in just a second the alicorn not only managed to dispel it, but pull the actual magic out in a physical form. Magic in it's physical form is the heaviest material known to man- and god-kind, and that pony just shot it at the freaking sun like it was the weight of a pebble! A orb of magic that size would have crushed right through a human body!

"My apologies" Chiron said, disrupting her train of thought. "Could you all just follow me, then?" He asked before being met with glares from the group. "Please, let's do this peacefully. No harm was meant by the spell, only the intent of hiding our only haven on this half of the country.". The glares faded, and a moment later found Chiron leading the mismatched group towards what appeared to be an arena.

After a short walk through the entry tunnel, the group found themselves alone in a large circle of hard packed dirt which they were told was the practice field. Before long they placed themselves in varying levels of comfort in the setting sun: Pinkie Pie was lying on a reclining Rainbow Dash's stomach, Twilight was biting her lip and treading on her hooves in place with her eyes darting between Lou Ellen and Chiron, Rarity was trying to find somewhere clean, Applejack was standing nonchalantly and Fluttershy was hiding behind AJ.

"Now, I know you all have man-" Chiron began.

"How can she do magic without a horn?! And why was it so easy to remove? How are you half pony, half monkey? and where ARE we?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"What are you calling easy to remove, pony?" Lou Ellen spit, rolling up her sleeves and stepping towards Twilight.

Twilight blinked at her, and she disappeared, only to reappear a moment later, back to back against Percy, who let off a laugh. Ellen (I'm gettin tired of all the Lou Ellen. Her name is shortened now. Deal with it.) whipped around then humph'd in frustration before moving back and out of the group, arms crossed in front of her as she watched the scene unfold.

Twilight, meanwhile, was standing in awe of how easy that feat was. 'How did I...'. She was snapped back to attention by Applejack. "You a'right, sugarcube?"

"Yes, Applejack, I'm fine." Twilight replied after shaking her head.

Piper turned and whispered to Chiron for a moment before he nodded. She turned, put her arm around a sputtering Ellen, and led her away.

Percy looked to the retreating duo, then back to Chiron, then to the six ponies in front of them. "Uh... No offense, to anyone, but shouldn't we have more of... you know... our team here?"

"They are no threat to us." Dash started forwards at his words, but was stopped. "At least, not while we treat them fairly." Chiron turned back to the ponies. "I have a few questions to ask of you, before anything. Let's start with the easiest one: Where do you come from?"

Twilight jerked back, then replied. "We come from the small town of Ponyville, under the great land of Equestria."

"So not from Earth." Percy deduced.

"I'm from Earth!." Pinkie exclaimed, whilst juggling a few rubber chickens that she pulled from somewhere.

"So not from this Earth." Percy tried again.

"How many Earth's do you think there are?" Dash blurted out.

"So from the past?"

"Are you calling us old?"

"Future?"

"Nope"

"Alternative location in the space-time continuum?"

"Nuh-uh"

Twilight chose that point to clear her throat.

"I... I performed a destiny spell. It was supposed to show us where we would be in 5 years. Show us if we had coltfriends, kids, businesses, jobs, anything. I never thought it would take us here..." She trailed off, regret in her eyes. "I'm sorry, everypony. This isn't the Earth we know. We're... a very long way from Equestria."

"Huh?" Quoth the rainbow-clad mare, voicing the opinion evident on all the ponies faces.

"Twilight mucked up a spell, now we ain't nowhere close to home." Applejack summed up.

Twilight laughed awkwardly. "Yep, that's me...".

Fluttershy took that moment to faint, prompting Pinkie to run over to her and begin dramatics.

"Oh, woe on her! She was so young, to hath been felle-" She was interrupted by a glow from Twilight's horn encompassing Fluttershy, and said pegasus groaning before getting right back up.

"We- We're not... home?" Fluttershy asked.

Everypony present just looked at her with a 'Duh' look, whereas she had the decency to let out an "Eep!" before hiding behind Applejack again.

"Excuse me." Chiron interrupted, garnering the attention of everyone there. "I think it would be wisest if we keep all origins to ourselves. There's no telling how the camp will react to your... antics, so for now, you are creatures made by our gods. You can stay over there, and we'll have our grooms come to attend to you. Righ-"

"You're making us stay in a stable?" Rarity asked in a flat tone, looking appalled at the thought.

Percy jumped in. "Where do you normally sleep?"

"In a bed, silly!" Pinkie Pie proclaimed, while precariously perched atop a post.

"Could they stay in the fields? Or with the satyrs?" Percy thought.

"Chiron, sir, could they stay in the fields?" Percy asked. "They would be out of the way, plenty of food, and temporary for when we decide to move them."

"No, Percy. They would be all too visible to anyone who attempted to look. That, and the close proximity to the forest leaves them prone to monster attacks."

"Hey, now don't you worry bout us, y'hear?" Applejack drawled. "We can take care of a few little monsters."

"You have monsters in your world?" Percy asked.

"You bet! Timberwolves and manticores and hydras and sea serpents and chimera and a lot more!" Pinkie Pie said.

Those from the human/Greek world looked at their visitors with a new level of respect. Around here, those animals were incredibly tough to defeat, for anyone who hadn't been trained. The way this mare talked about them as if their appearance was a regular thing... maybe they aren't as defenseless as they thought?

"I would prefer to stay within a house, if it isn't too much bother?" Rarity asked.

Chiron turned to Percy and began a fierce muttering match, whilst the ponies thought amongst themselves. After a few restless moments Chiron galloped off, leaving Percy alone. He looked at the equine guests in front of him and cleared his throat, gathering their attention.

"Chiron has agreed to let you all stay with me." He held up a hand to quiet the ponies before they could say anything to that. "Around here, my dad is also the god of all horses. It only makes sense that you would stay with me, right? Besides, we have the emptiest cabin in the camp. On top of that, I did save you..."

The ponies struggled to find fault in the reasoning presented to them, but were unable to before Percy continued.

"It's only me and my brother there, and you can trust the both of us. I swear it upon the River Styx that no harm will befall you at my hands." A clap of thunder echoed across the sky, terrifying Fluttershy into hiding underneath an agitated Twilight. She was about to speak up before Percy again cut her off.

"What I just did is a life-binding oath. Basically, even if I were to try and hurt you physically, I would die." There was a collective gasp of shock from the visitors.

"Why... You didn't... but... That isn't necessary!" Twilight exclaimed.

"...But I already did it." Percy deadpanned, with his signature lopsided smile upon his face.

Fluttershy creeped out from underneath the alicorn, before turning to Percy and mumbling.

"Well I personally think that was very nice of you, darling." Rarity told Percy, who was then showered with thanks from those surrounding him, to which he nodded his head and said:

"Alright then, follow me."

The six ponies all filed in behind Percy as he lead the way through the dark camp. From farther away the sounds of chatting and laughing were heard and after looking, Rainbow Dash noticed the glow of a fire.

"Hey, uh... Percy, right?" She asked.

He nodded as he lead the group. "Yep, that's me."

"What's that?"

He looked over and saw she was pointing in the direction of the dining hall. He didn't see anything though. "What's what?"

"The long spiny thing with legs that looks like an evil version of a dragon." She dead-panned, making Fluttershy 'Eep!' and duck underneath Twilight.

"Oh, that's just Peleus. He helps protect the camp from monsters." Percy explained.

"Helps? He looks like he could do it all on his own!" Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Could somepony explain just what the hay you two are babblin' about?" Applejack asked.

"Can't you see that?" Dash asked her.

"Uhhh... no?"

"Seriously, just look" Dash dashed ((I'm so sorry, I just had to.)) beside AJ and pointed with a hoof "that way!"

"I wanna see!" Pinkie shouted as she plopped on top of Applejack from somewhere above the two, sending the two earth ponies to the ground. Rainbow Dash disappeared, and a loud crack was heard off to the right. The group looked over to see her on the other side of what was once a 90 foot tree about fifty metres away, and was now just a collection of splinters vaguely resembling a tree stump. Dash blinked. "Whoa."

"Rainbow Dash! What did you do?!" Twilight scolded, being the first to recover her senses. Nopony (or person) had seen what happened, though the aftermath was clear as splinters began to fall from their temporary flight. Twilight looked up and saw the main trunk of the tree still intact and about to fall on the group! She quickly recalled what Canterlot's Captain of the Guard, her brother, had taught her and sped through the incantation in her head, her horn shooting out a spark straight up that stopped and expanded to form a protective bubble around them. The bubble was luminescent, the physical form of magic creating a super-dense shield around them. A muffled crash was heard as what remained of the tree slammed against the shield, bouncing off and splintering as if the magic shield was harder than steel. Technically it was, with magic being one of the hardest and densest known substances to man- and ponykind.

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise, but she kept her reaction to that. Everyone else just stared either at her or Dash before Percy broke the silence.

"Wow... Uh... Thanks." He said to the lilac coloured alicorn, the gratitude evident in his facial features.

"No problem." She replied before turning again to Rainbow Dash, who had trotted over by this time with a pair of 'cool' sunglasses on. "What. Did. You. Do?" she scolded crossly.

"I just decided to be a bit more awesome than usual for a bit, that's all." She said nonchalently. Percy chuckled a little at her response, before interfering.

"Gu- Girls, relax. It's just a tree." He said with a laugh. "As for you Dash, that was... incredibly fast. I think Arion might just have a new rival to deal with." Twilight opened her mouth to speak but Percy interrupted her again. "-and Twilight, that shield magic was very impressive. I can't say I've seen anything like it, but hey, whatever works right?" She opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off, as was becoming commonplace for her. "Anyways, we're here."

The group looked at the cabin in front of them, noting its close position to the lake, and how all the windows faced the water. The cabin itself was long, short, and strong, and the walls made of a rough, gray stone that was pockmarked with seashells and coral. It vaguely resembled the bottom of the ocean floor, not that any of the ponies would know what that looks like. They speechlessly followed him inside, the building being a striking contrast to the vivid and bright colours of their hometown. Upon entering they saw six sets of bunk beds, with only one of them appearing occupied. In the back a large fountain sat, and upon closer inspection one could notice a collection of gold coins sitting in the bottom. Other than that it was decorated with various naval ornaments, such as a rope net covering a wall, a buoy suspended from the ceiling, and a large mooring cleat upturned in the corner of the floor with a cushion attached, making for a pretty creative couch.

"My brother isn't here right now," Percy said with a sad smile, "so we do have more room than usual, although that isn't saying much. I take it you would all like to bunk on the bottom?"

Applejack nodded for the group, even as Dash was lounging on a top bunk in her usual nonchalant manner. Pinkie noticed the disappointment in Percy, even through the smile, but didn't press the issue. It was hardly her place to step into matters she didn't know, and while she hated seeing anyone with a frown, she was still trying to take this whole new world in.

That was, until her stomach rumbled. All eyes turned to her as she smiled and giggled. "My tummy is rumbly and bumbly."

"You hungry?" Percy asked.

"Yes." All six -or five, as Fluttershy was being shy still- chorused.

Percy sighed, and with an "I'll be right back.", he left.


	2. Chapter 1: Chocolates and Break-ins

_I galloped through the forest path beside the river, barely outrunning the swarm of lurkerbees that chased me. I saw a log ahead and jumped over it while kicking out with my right rear hoof to catch one of the monsters in the body, causing its carapace to explode in a messy splatter. That was one, now to deal with, oh I don't know, a hundred more?! I kept running, the buzz of the bees feeling as if it was burrowing straight through my ears and into my brain._

_I continued to run, until the forest gave way to desert. I turned around and levitated a few ball bearings out of my saddlebag. I used my mechakinesis, in tandem with a multilevitation spell to launch the small balls into the bees before expanding them, effectively pushing the bees out of their own bodies. It was gruesome, and took out another 15 or so bees, but more kept emerging from the forest. I returned my ball bearings back to my saddlebag after a quick dip through the river to wash off the bee matter. If I could help it, I'd rather not have my tools too dirty. I turned back and kept running into desert, keeping the river on my right side and close by at all times. The river was my last resort, for I'd rather die from drowning than being paralyzed by the bees toxin. It's said that if you prove a worthy chase to the bees, they'll take you to the queen bee. Now, seeming as these bees already are about the size of my body, I swiftly decided I didn't want to meet the queen, and continued galloping._

_Not like there was much else I could do, considering the swarm was growing exponentially. I looked over my shoulder and shot a fire spell, incinerating under a third of the swarm. The buzzing slowly started to die down as the bees landed, all staring at me. They probably expected me to stop because they did. Idiots... I kept on running, tired somewhat from the size of that fire spell. So tired was I, that I didn't notice the desert turn to tundra, turn to jungle, then back to the forest from before. I barely managed to stop myself before I fell into the river, which had decided to bend into a corner here. A willow tree stood, and underneath it... was her._

_I stepped forward cautiously. "M.. Moon?"_

_"Violet!" She exclaimed, running forward to hug me. I felt a flood of relief flow over me at seeing her safe, before a sudden flash of light enveloped her and she disappeared, with only her necklace staying behind. I barely had time to let the shock set in before a shadow came over the ground, and I looked up, to see a bee the size of my house bearing down on me, stinger first and hitting me in the si-_

"AGH!" I yelled out when I woke up and darted to a sitting position. I was covered in a cold sweat, and looking out the window from my bed I could see that the sun was just barely brushing the horizon, the light of day on the verge of being released into the morning. I took a few shaky breathes and laid myself back down, letting my heart rate return to normal before gingerly stepping out of my sweat-dampened bed. I looked around at my one-room workshop... or I guess you could call it work-shack, with how low-class it was. Metal pieces lay haphazardly around the floor, with flawed blueprints plastered on every square inch of wall. A half-finished invention sat on the shop table. Amongst this organized chaos, a bed and bedside table sat in the corner, looking as if they had been thrown in as more of an afterthought, which they were.

I slowly shuffled over to my small kitchen, and telekinetically threw some herbs into a filter, then into my home brewing system, setting a mug underneath the spout on the end. I grabbed a piece of stale bread out of the cupboard, and knocked it on the table with a sharp *clunk*. I shrugged and used my magic to move my saddlebag onto my back, from which I levitated a small knife which I used to cut the bread into small enough pieces. I saw my cup of tea had been finished and took that and the bread and walked out my front door, looking in front of me to see endless fields of abandoned apple trees.

Ever since the disappearance of the Element Wielders, Ponyville was a much more desolate place. That tends to happen when you take the town scholar, the friend maker, the animal tender, the hero, the seamstress, and the best cowpony, and have them go missing. Quarrels in town were much more frequent, and it seemed to me that with the disappearance of the Elements of Harmony came the disappearance of harmony itself. Not that it really affected me, I didn't keep too many relationships nowadays, not since Moon Star left.

But, I digress. I walked to the closest tree, and grabbed an apple. Normally stealing from Sweet Apple Acres would have most of the town up in arms, but since Applejack left, the rest of the Apple family went into mourning. Without their prime applebucker, they slowly lost control of the trees, and were unable to finish harvest in time. Eventually, Old Granny Smith kicked the bucket, and Big Mac and Apple Bloom moved to Appaloosa to be with what family they had left.

I turned and walked back to my workshop, before realizing I really wasn't in the mood for working right now. I still walked inside and grabbed my cloak, levitating that on underneath the saddlebag that I never left home without. I looked into the mirror to see my sky blue eyes staring back at me, surrounded by my navy blue features. My hair fell just above my right eye, streaks of a regal purple inlaid into my mane. My tail was long, though I kept it braided to prevent it from getting caught in anything.

I looked at the calendar and sighed, realizing that it was Moon Star's birthday tomorrow. I grabbed a few bits from my homemade magic safe (that one was hard to make) that was only able to open when it was touched by my colour of magical aura. Since nopony else in Ponyville had a dark blue aura, this was decently secure, at least for the time being. I placed them into a pouch that levitated from my saddlebag and returned it to its former position. I looked behind me and saw the cloak and matching black saddlebag, and magically did up the straps and clasps.

I walked outside and followed a semi-worn trail, from my misuse only, weaving a cut path through the trees and underlying brush. Not many ponies know where it is that I live, and even less have a desire to come see me. I grabbed another plump apple and used a multi-levitation spell to slice it apart with my knife and eat it as I walked into town. I fell into my thoughts for the long, uneventful walk into Central Ponyville.

It had been a couple of weeks short of 2 years since the Element Wielders had gone missing. I had arrived and built my "home" out here on the outskirts of the late Sweet Apple Acres about 8 months ago. The mystery was unsolved, and the general population had sadly accepted that they weren't returning. There was mourning, and the general population would have worn black, but without their prized seamstress anypony without something black made by Rarity would have felt disrespectful.

On the Anniversary of their disappearance, Celestia held an official memorial in their honour, in Ponyville. The population of Ponyville was around 2,000 at that time. Over 50,000 ponies were present on that day, not including the buffalo tribes, a small zebra family, and a few donkeys. Both Princesses ruled it a national holiday, and that day was named Harmony Day.

That night the gathered mourners stayed and drank hard cider to drown their sorrows at the loss. The townspeople stood and told stories of the deeds and lessons of the late wielders and everypony that was gathered sang in sorrow.

I don't have a reliable source for the information but according to the rumor mill, a relative of the Generosity wielder, sang a song about smiling, which most of the Ponyville locals knew and sang along to. The outcome of this was the greatest festival ever seen in Equestrian history.

See, after that, apparently two other fillies ran up in front of everypony gathered and they gave an emotional speech about friendship and how even though they're gone, ponies should celebrate their life rather than mourn their death. It was decided thereafter that for the rest of the week, each day should be dedicated to the celebration of one element wielder, in respect for the heroics and sacrifices of the mares that weren't there.

Harmony Day had been decreed the start of what was to be known as the Festival of Harmony. The first day was in sad but loving memory of the Elements as a whole, a day to be sorrowful. The second day somewhat carried that mood with the honouring of Applejack, and everypony certainly got their fill of the hard cider. I doubt the hard working earth pony herself would have approved, but with all the drunken secrets being spilled, you can't say anypony was being disrespectful to Honesty. Farmers taught the foreign races how to applebuck, there was horseshoe throwing, square dancing, and a bit of horsing around if you catch my drift.

The second day was delayed due to the dehydrated masses of ponies. When the hangovers were cured, whoever had this organized decided that a walk in the Whitetail Woods was a good way to celebrate Kindness. The packs were filled, and off everpony went. At this time the total attendance was about 70,000 and rising by the hour. Citizens were flooding in to pay homage to the saviors of their homes, and Ponyville was quickly filling up. A Pegasus team had moved clouds into neat little rows inside the school-house for the VIP's and royalty, while other teams placed endless rows of cloud beds in the expansive fields surrounding the town.

Despite all this going on in Ponyville, the march through the forest continued to a large field that bordered a river. The field was then filled by ponies eating their packed lunch, foals going swimming, traditional picnic things. A large bonfire was held and stories about Fluttershy were recalled. A known lullaby of hers echoed across the surrounding landscape as it was sung by the group of 60,000 that chose to remain at the clearing.

Day Three brought the awakening of the outdoors ponies who promptly returned to town and found another 50,000 new attendants to the festival. By this point the local businesses had set up concession stands by the residential fields, and were loving the boom in business. With the collective 110,000 ponies there, a plan was made and then followed. It went like this:

Day Four was a preparation and celebration day. Gifts were to be swapped in celebration of Generosity and outfits were to be prepared for the next day. Everypony present with work from Rarity herself wore it, while those who didn't wore their nicest attire. The total number of attendees at this point was 130,000

Day Five was the celebration of Laughter, and Pinkie. Of course there was a party, why ask? DJ-Pon3 performed with a few other artists and as the night progressed the party turned into more of a rave. Heavy bass music carried long into the night, leaving everypony with not nearly enough sleep for the next day.

Day Six was a team competition. This was in memory of Rainbow Dash, and was named the 10 Second Decathalon. It was a series of events between earth ponies and pegasi, and it ended in group of tired athletes and everypony waiting anxiously for the next day.

Day Seven brought the Element of Magic and with that came two things. The first thing came in the form of Celestia raising the sun from Ponyville that morning. The second came with the first ever Twilight Sparkle Memorial Tournament. This was a non-lethal dueling tournament between unicorns, meant to display harmless gags and magical pranks and to entertain the audience with displays of both general and talent magic. It was won by some random unicorn that I never caught the name of. After the proceedings of the week previous, Ponyville had slowly returned to its normal population level, rather than the abundance of Equestrian Citizens that had come to pay their respect.

I looked up and saw that I had emerged from my remembrance of what happened almost a year prior, finding myself at the end of yet another empty street of Ponyville. Looking forward I could see into the perimeter of the square and paused, looking for where I wanted to go.

After watching an earth pony mare run past rather hurriedly, and trip in plain view, I allowed myself to smile. I made my away across the road and looked up at the store I was about to walk into, before pushing the door open. The entry bell clanged over my head and I heard a mare yell "just a minute!". I took to browsing the shelves of endless chocolate that sprawled through the store with displays of sweets placed perfectly in between like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Many varieties of chocolates and candies were available, though after coming here so often I kind of had the general layout of the store memorized.

I heard hoofclops and looked up to see a light coloured mare, earth pony, with a purple and pink mane and tail.

"Hey Bon Bon." I greeted her with a nod of my head. Me and this particular pony have known each other for a decent amount of time. In fact, her store was the first one I went into when I moved here. It's a long story, but it involves a crazy pegasus in a chicken costume and a filly with nine times her weight in bits.

"Hey Violet!" She returned happily. "How are you?"

Her joviality was hard not to mimic. "I'm good, thank you for asking. And how are you?"

"Business could be better," She joked while gesturing to the unpopulated storefront. "But I'm not one to complain."

I smiled. "No, you really aren't. How's Lyra doing?" A few months ago Lyra and I had played a prank on Bon Bon with some bad chocolate. What happened was that Lyra had gone and tried to make a bunch of chocolate to do some of Bon Bons job for her so they could quit early and go on a date. Bon had told her that it wasn't good chocolate and that they couldn't sell it. Long story short, we replaced everything in her house with chocolate. Toothpaste even!

Bon Bon let an affectionate smile cross her face. Oh, did I mention that Lyra and Bon Bon are kind of... together?

"Why don't you ask me?" Lyra giggled as she came down the stairs. Bon Bon rushed to give the unicorn a hug and I smiled at her before her teal features were masked by her marefriend. The two separated and turned back to me.

I let out a small laugh. "Well then, how are you doing Lyra?"

She smiled back at me. "I'm still waking up, ask me in a couple of minutes."

"Fair enough." I replied.

Bon Bon cut to the chase though. "So, Violet, what can we do for you?"

My mood immediately sobered as I recalled why I came here in the first place. "Well... tomorrow is going to be Moon's birthday..." As soon as her name came out of my mouth, the two mares in front of me put on sympathetic looks and I looked down, before looking back at them. "I want to get her what I got her the last two years."

Bon Bon nodded wordlessly and walked into the back of the shop. Lyra walked over to me and gave me a hug, so I stood there and let her. When she pulled away I offered my thanks, and we were again silent. I can still remember Moon, I told her that I could never forget about her. She didn't believe me, she thought I was just saying it to be nice but I wasn't. I was being completely serious. I can hear her in my dreams, see her, feel her and touch her and it's like she was never gone.

One day we all have to wake up and stop chasing fairy tales though.

Bon Bon returned to the main floor area of the store, somehow balancing two boxes on top of her head and dodging around Lyra as the unicorn made her way back upstairs. She carried these over to the counter and slid them onto the surface, taking the traditional spot behind the counter and I, in front.

"Not to be offensive..." I slowly let out. "But don't you think it would be smarter if Lyra was the go to mare for grabbing things from the back?"

"What do you mean?" Bon Bon asked me with an eyebrow raised quizzically.

"Well, I mean, not to be rude, but... She has magic. Wouldn't it be easier if she grabbed things instead of you having to balance them?" I explained.

"Remember last time she was with the chocolate vats?"

I sweatdropped. "Erm... no?"

She smiled at me and pushed the boxes across the counter, dropping the subject. "Take this one on us, Violet. It's the least we could do."

I shook my head and smiled back, levitating the necessary amount of bits out of my coin purse and placing them on the counter. "You know I don't like to take things for free."

"Yea... but it lets me feel better for offering." She said with a wink. At this I laughed lightly. I always enjoyed coming into the shop, especially since it was usually pretty empty, and I was already good friends with Lyra and Bon Bon, and they treated me like somepony worth their time. Because of this, however, there was no way I could take a freebie from them. It would be like... stealing from the orphanage you live at. So many levels of wrong. To prevent that, I pay. Easy as that.

"Well then thank you for your incredibly generous offer." I say, with a small smile so she knows I'm not being sarcastic. "but I'm afraid I must be going now. It is getting rather late."

"It's not even breakfast time." Lyra deadpanned as she walked back into the store.

"Exactly," I reply, "I still have to go get groceries for my breakfast."

"Why don't you eat with us?" Lyra asked.

"Erm... I have to grab some things for something I'm working on, as well. I'm anxious to get going on it." I said as I stowed the chocolates into my saddlebag after wrapping them in a clean towel to prevent jarring (I may or may not live by "Be Prepared" like its my religion). I did like these ponies, but as far as social interaction goes, my time is better spent on my work. Nobody ever got a paycheck from a party, unless they hosted it and charged an admission fee. I was most definitely not the party planning type.

"You sure you can't spare a half hour for some time with friends?" Bon asked, with a hint of a puppy face. They were really pushing this, weren't they?

2 hours later I emerged from the chocolate shop into the street. I squinted for a few seconds in the significantly brighter sunlight until I got used to it, then turned and began ambling down the road, thinking again about the disappearance of the Elements. I had a few theories, none of which were probable. For some reason the matter refused to drop from my mind, and in no time I found myself in front of the scarred remains of Ponyville's old Library.

From where I was standing, it essentially looked like the top half of the tree was ripped right off. The bottom half was bare of any sort of bark, and the jagged shell of the trunk spiked towards the sky, leaving the inside open to the elements. Nopony had stepped inside after Celestia had ordered it, upon her leaving the house shortly after the incident. I made up my mind right then and there that I was going to break that rule, come nightfall. With that in mind, I walked on.

It didn't take me long to do what I needed to do in town, though despite my delay I still had to wait for the blacksmith to wake up. It was pushing noon and I was still sitting outside of the shop. Normally, any sane pony would have left by now. But I am not sane, and I can be very patient. So, I sat down in the nearest shade, and settled in for who knows how long.

Some time later (I have no idea when, I tend to zone out when I'm waiting) the forgemaster opened up his door with a yawn.

"Finally." I said flatly.

He blinked. "Huh. How long you been waiting there, son?"

"Too long." I said, raising myself off the ground and shaking out my legs.

"I've got your order all ready to go."

"Thanks, here's the-" I stopped myself with my bit purse levitating in front of me. "Wait, what order?"

"Come inside, I think you'll be pleased with how I did. I mean, it's not quite to your oddly specific design, as I added a few improvements, but it still works as it should."

"..." My silence impacted the conversation so hard the ellipses were practically audible.

The old earth pony was not dissuaded however, and proceeded to usher me through the door into the stifling heat of his home and work. See, I'm not the only pony who finds it easier to work where I live!

"I know I say this every time, but you really should have put your forge outside."

"And risk my baby being rained on? Not happening, kid." He liked to remind everypony just how much older he was. He really wasn't that old, I just think the years treated him poorly.

"I came up with a useful product recently."

"Oh?" He inquired.

"I think something like it exists already. Basically what it is, is a covering, usually held up by some sort of support, and weatherproofed. I think it's quite similar to a roof. Oh, and the great thing is? It can be built outside. Right over where your forge should be."

He just looked at me with that look that seniors give to the young ones who disrespect them. Mainly, he looked annoyed. I just gestured forwards, and he walked into his storeroom, with me following.

"So, smartass, do you want your usual too?" I guess I deserved that.

"If you don't mind." I said while looking over the walls and floors. I mostly saw shoes lying around and hanging from hooks. Here and there I found other items, like a the externals of a clock, or a few nails or spikes. My concentration was broken by the owners voice.

"Here it is!" He said, holding up what looked like... I don't really know. It looked like a big, metal stick.

"...What is it?"

"You said you wanted a spear."

Wait, what?

Why would I need a spear? Why would I even want a spear? I actually am pretty against owning one, but metal isn't exactly a fixed object for me, so I figured I'd just brick it like the rest of my stash. Although, he does think I ordered it...

"No, I meant what is the metal you used?" Good save, Violet.

He grinned. "I went right ahead and made this with my own blend. Everything you need to know about it is written down here." He passed me a slip of paper. I magicked it into my bag, then magically picked up the 'spear'. I suppose I should describe it, although anypony close to me has probably already seen it. It did not have a handle, because magic. It did look pretty badass, though. The metal was sharpened to a tip at each end, with the metal getting thicker towards the middle. It was roughly my height, were I to act like a drunk and try walking on two legs. The metal itself looked to be blackish with red swirling through it. It looked... kind of evil, to be honest.

"Right. So what do I owe you?"

"Nothing. You paid for it when you dropped off the order, remember?"

"No. Did I pay for the extra steel yet?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did I already give you the bits to make my purchase of the raw steel bars?"

"No, before that."

"I asked how much I owed you?"

He grit his teeth. It really shouldn't be fun annoying people, but me and him have a thing going, so it's alright. Basically, he puts up with me and I'm his number one customer.

"Nothing, see you next week, bye." He ushered me out the door and slammed it behind me. I was about to turn around and walk inside before I saw the spear impale itself into the ground. I looked back at the shop and he threw a bag at me that I caught with magic. I knew if I looked inside I would see my steel so I compressed the spear into a ball and placed it into my saddlebag, soon followed by the raw materials. With everything I needed and some cool new metal to work with, I walked my way home.

I again found myself standing in front of the library. It was approximately 2 hours past sunset, and the majority of ponies were in bed, if not only in their homes. I erred on the side of caution by starting with a muffling spell on my hooves before I walked slowly up to the entrance and slipped inside. I don't know why I was surprised to see the inside of the library in the same state as the outside, but that could just be because I've never stepped hoof in this building before. Either way, I cast a weak illumination spell and an orb of glowing magic manifested at the tip of my horn in an attempt to reveal what hid in the shadows.

The inside of the tree was barren, mostly. Charred remains of bookcases lay scattered on the floor like tombstones for the lost knowledge within the tomes, scrolls, and books that were destroyed. The bottom of a set of stairs could be seen leading up only a few steps before being cut off like the rest of the tree. Boards from the hardwood floor were torn up in places, revealing the basement level beneath. But the most interesting thing was a circle on the floor in the middle of the library, with various magical runes painted in it. This part was miraculously damage-free, and due to that it immediately caught my attention. I walked closer to it, my hooves stopping just outside the circle as I levitated a quill, ink-pot, and a square of parchment from my saddlebag, and proceeded to copy the design as I examined what few of the runes I knew.

See, back before I moved to Ponyville, I didn't really go to school. No, instead I took it upon myself to learn what I wanted, what I needed, what was necessary and interesting to me. So of course, the first subject I forayed into was my magic. I learned a lot about the structure and intricacies of magic, poring through both biographies of famous powerful unicorns, and through the dusty tomes of old. During this time I learned about a whole manner of spells, runes, rituals, and even theoretical magic. I wasn't the worlds leading expert, but according to Equestria Daily's census on average unicorn magic knowledge, I found myself in the top ten percent. A few ponies above me include Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, ponies like that.

Not that I'm bragging or anything.

Yet despite my self-taught magical knowledge, I still found myself puzzled by a few of the runes that were professionally marked in the circle. I saw a few that I recognized, like the one for Focus, as well as the one for Amplification. I saw one that resembled the Home rune as well. The rest were a mystery, and there were six altogether. Focus and Amplification were common signs to be used in any ritual spell, due to their nature. Ritual spells take preparation, so no unicorn wants to screw up and have to start over because they got distracted by a bug, or they missed out on a little sleep the night before and were lacking just a little bit more energy. Home was a bit trickier, as it was usually used with long-range teleportation spells, though I didn't spot any other ones common to teleportation so I quickly dismissed it as being another unknown.

I marked down the position of the runes within the circle as well as copying their exact shape so I could reference them in a library the next time I was anywhere but Ponyville. That done, I slipped my notes back into my saddlebag, and continued to look around. I wandered the place for about an hour before anything interesting happened.

I was just about to leave when I heard hoofclops. Hoofclops means ponies. Ponies at this hour means either others settling their curiosity, or the Royal Night Guard. I quickly extinguished my illumination spell and noticed the telltale glow of magic from out the front doors. 2 origin points for the lights, I'm dealing with at least 2 other magic wielders. I heard flapping, and if I wasn't busy trying to think of what to do, I would have face-hooved. Pegasi too?

I thrust a tendril of magic into the door, locating and engaging the lock, and melting it shut. That would only stop the unicorns for a minute or two, less if they had an earth pony and weren't worried about discretion. Either way, I would have a pegasi flying over the open roof soon enough, and that would completely render my door locking moot. I galloped across the open floor to the stairway leading downstairs, throwing myself into the entrance before preparing what I needed. I used my mechakinetic magic to manipulate the doorknob and hinges into solid metal, which I quickly reformed into nails. I quickly pulled out the block of steel I bought earlier and spread it into a thin sheet, which I placed over the outside of the door. I then punched the nails through the door into the wall.

My hopes was that they would never think to check behind a mirror mounted on a unmoving piece of wall. I could hear the door rattle at the front, then a couple of hard knocks, before a loud slam followed. Guess they did have an earth pony... I continued to wait in the pitch darkness as the intruders wandered about the library, their voices all but muffled to me through the door. After about 5 minutes of patience, it seemed they found whatever it was that they were looking for, because the muttering stopped and I heard the hoofclops fade away.

It was only well after they had gone did I allow myself to relax again, releasing a breath I hadn't been aware I was holding. I returned the door to its normal state of being a door, and then didn't even go out it, instead heading down into the basement and recasting my illumination spell.

I noticed the ground was absolutely caked with ashes, so I solidified some magic underneath the dust layer, lifted it up, and compacted it all inside the spell. I threw the dustball into the corner, and looked around again. There were a few things on the floor: bits of broken glass, what looked like the remains of scientific equipment, and something that appeared to be a storage cabinet that had barfed its contents all over the ground. I rummaged through the bits and pieces on the floor and didn't find much, save for a pretty cool looking gold necklace that I grabbed, along with a fancy looking canteen. I pored over the tables and saw nothing of interest. I was about to give up on my search of the subterranean level of the tree when a glint caught my eye.

Turns out, the late Twilight Sparkle had a magic safe too. I didn't even know the colour of her magical aura, so there's no way I could crack it, so I just left it, took what I had found, and walked back to the stairs. Before I got to too far I turned, and after levitating the ash-ball to the center of the room, I expanded it back where it was. There used to be times when I cursed my lack of magical manipulation prowess. Now though? I'm damn good at it. Practice really does make perfect.

I released my illumination spell before opening the door back to the main area of the library. I noticed that the ritual markings that were on the floor had been painted over, and that was only noted because I despise the smell of wet paint. I looked at the door to see that the closing and locking mechanism were completely useless, and that the hinges had been bent beyond repair. So I went ahead and magically repaired it, because hey, I'm a nice pony sometimes. I closed the door behind me, and kept to the shadows until I found myself safe in my home.


	3. Chapter 2: The Royal City

Chapter 2

The next morning I awoke at my usual nightmare influenced time, and went through my morning ritual. I opted for the cloak today as I had decided the night before to visit Canterlot. I wanted to do research on my findings of last night, and seeming as the state of the library here was... less than perfect, I had quickly made my decision to make the trip to the nearby city.

I had my saddlebag on with some steel, a few rags wrapped around some bottles, a spare cloak with a hood, and my new spear-metal. I emptied half my bits out of my safe, and managed to weight my coinpurse to my satisfaction. I placed the canteen and the necklace I had snatched from the library in my bag as well.

I then took the whole getup off, and placed it on my one marequin. There was a time when I wouldn't have dared let something like that in my home, but I found it useful when I needed to work on something wearable. It was invaluable when I made my cloaks.

That aside, I pulled a book from the floor near my bed, and a jug and cup from over at my workbench. I set all but the book down and opened it up. This was a present that I got at Hearth Warming's last year and I don't even care who sent it because I loved it. Even if I wanted to know I couldn't have, it came unmarked at my doorstep. It was big, full of pictures, and it taught me more magic than I thought existed. For example, this morning I was going to attempt to enchant something.

That may not seem big to some ponies, but it was my first time so shut up. That being said, I was confident that I had learned plenty and went ahead and decided to try it anyways.

I laid a scroll over my workbench to use a base for the spell. I drew a ritual circle and added the Hold, Help, Enchant, and Replenish runes inside it using ink that I had to special order weeks ago. It was expensive but if I could enchant household items, non-unicorns would pay a hefty price. The ink itself acted as a magic sink, trapping any magic that was poured into it until it was full. It allowed rituals that were usually done with two or three unicorns to be done by a lone spellcaster.

The setup complete, I opened the book and took a minute to make sure I had the incantation right. I then closed the book and set it aside.

15 minutes later found me drenched with a shattered jug in front of me. I sighed and magically dried myself off, before returning the book to its place near my bed. _Magic sucks sometimes..._

I levitated my hoodless cloak on followed by the get-up I set out before. All that done, I turned off my lights and closed my door, setting the lock before turning my back. The sun was just barely above the horizon at this point, and it shone beautifully on the fog that occupied the rows of apple trees. I stole more food from the farm, because I'm cheap, and made my way towards the road into town.

It was at that point in time I heard a loud howl, followed by what sounded like tree branches knocking together. Basically, timber wolves. I contemplated what to do for a whole half a second before I just teleported into the outskirts of town. _Haha, I love magic!_

The spell tired me out a little, but that sort of price was small compared to the amount of energy I would have expended on a whole pack of wolves. A wise old pony once told me that the best way to win a battle is to not fight it. I always thought he was crazy until I learned the logic behind it. Now I know he was a genius.

I stuck to the outskirts of Ponyville as I made my way around to the other side where the train station awaited. Luckily by the time I got there, a train was just leaving, so I spent a little more energy teleporting aboard it.

Yes, I should have paid. No, I don't care. That established, the train ride was boring. The most exciting thing that happened was me actually having a nap. Doesn't sound like a big deal until you factor in that I barely get any sleep anyways, though not for lack of trying.

Anyways, I woke up feeling even more tired, and heard the train screeching to a stop and figuring that's what woke me. I stood up out of my chair and walked casually out the door, only to see absolutely nopony at the station. I blinked and followed the signs to the stations exit, to find myself on what looked like a downtown area. I saw a barber, couple food shops, a general store, stuff like that. Only a couple of ponies were up and about, but I still had no idea where the library was. I ducked into the general store hoping to get directions.

As soon as I stepped in, I was assaulted with the heavy smell of strawberries. I don't say assaulted lightly, either. I mean like I had a strawberry air freshener thrown at me. So surprised was I, that the flimsy thing hit me in the head and I blinked. I looked around for the perpetrator and nearly laughed when I saw the terrified look of a young colt staring at me in fear of rebuke.

I nodded at him and walked further into the store, hurriedly ignoring him. He looked scared enough anyways so I figured my interaction with him was done.

That little event now out of the way, I walked my way to the front desk. There I saw a pale yellow earth pony with a slighter darker mane. He looked male to me but I couldn't really tell.

"What can I get for you, sir?" ...and I still can't tell what it is.

"All I need is directions to the library." I said curtly. I wasn't much a fan of the nation's capital, what with them all being stuck up pricks. At least the ones that I've met...

"Library? Why, all the books you could need are right here!" The pony said in its annoyingly androgynous voice. I highly doubt he(because pronouns make life easier) had what I needed, but I decided to humor him anyways.

"Oh really. Where's your selection?" I asked, feigning curiosity.

"It's right this way, sir." The yellow pony walked over to the right, and pointed out a bookshelf I hadn't noticed. I looked at the titles. Among them I found such gems as: Flying for Fillies, a starting guide for newborns.

_What newborn Pegasus can read before they can fly? _

The Incomplete Bestiary: Everfree Edition.

"...incomplete?" I voiced aloud.

"The Everfree is a dangerous place, sir."

"Stop calling me sir, you're probably older than I am."

"Yes sir." He quipped with a self-satisfied smirk. That really bugged me for some reason...

I shook my head and kept looking. I didn't really find much of interest, the majority being fiction and children's books. Oh, and self-improvement books, but those are the devils work.

"How much for the bestiary?"

"One-"

"If you're about to say hundred I will hurt you."

"...one bit."

"Perfect. It's incomplete so if you had tried to charge me more..." I let my words trail off with what I hoped was a menacing glare.

"Is that a threat you're implying?"

"I literally just said I would hurt you." I replied, having been called out and not particularily caring too much. The shopkeeper remained silent so I magically tossed a bit on the counter and tucked my new book into my bag. I hadn't even bothered to flip through it first, but it was only one bit, so whatever. "Now, how do I get to the library from here?"

The pony grinned. "A map would be pretty useful to you if I'm not mistaken, Sir." He suddenly had one in his hoof. Perfect. I levitated it out of his grasp and looked it over while ignoring his protesting, and soon found that the library was on the exact other side of the city.

"Great, thanks." I said, tossing the map onto the counter and turning to walk out. Apparently I missed a clasp on my cloak this morning because the shopkeeper yelled out "Blank-Flank" after me.

I stopped. "What of it?"

I could hear the sneer in his voice. "Only colts, fillies, and _failures_ have blank flanks." I turned around slowly and stared at him.

"What are you implying." It wasn't a question.

"You're not a filly or a colt."

I walked slowly back to the counter. "So you're saying I'm a failure for not having a predetermined skill set? For being able to do whatever I want with my life?" I glanced at his cutie mark and saw two bits on top of each other. "At least I'm not stuck running a bucking shop with no customers. It's no wonder you have no family." My guess at his home life was apparently very accurate.

"Why you-!" He growled as he jumped up and tried to get at me over the counter. I levitated him back and put him in his place behind the counter. He tried to jump at me again and I just levitated him back with a chuckle. He stared at me and then shuffled to the right a bit. I levitated him back.

"Stop it!" He yelled at me with fury in his eyes.

"Or else what? You won't sell to me? Oh woe be to the pony who can't buy from the dingiest place in the city." I droned sarcastically, turning and walking towards the door.

I heard scuffling behind me and ducked, the idiot flying right over me into his own shelf. A variety of knickknacks were sprawled over the floor as I teleported outside and set the lock on the place with my magic.

"People here suck..." I muttered under my breath.

My walk to the library was rather uneventful, after I made sure my cloak wouldn't show off my lack of mark. Sure, it wasn't _that _uncommon to have a blank flank but in a place like this, full of snobs and toadies, it was just asking to have it lorded over you if it wasn't hidden. I wasn't ashamed, nor really that upset about not having one. It'll come eventually.

I did, however, notice that the guard presence was much more obvious than the last time I'd been to the royal city. Before, they stood guard over the palace, and the entrances and exits. Now it seemed that there were patrols walking the streets.

Most ponies would feel safer. I felt kind of anxious. Every cause has an effect, and my guess is that security around here was either threatened or that crime rates were increasing, thus meaning more guards out in the city. After all, what kind of guard captain would put his men out to patrol safe streets?

I did find out exactly what kind of guard captain does that, though not anytime soon.

An hour of walking found me in front of a large, ornate building. Pillars rose up in front of the entrance, making me feel slightly small. I didn't exactly stop walking until I reached the front desk where I saw what I presumed to be the librarian. A quick chat with her let me know that I could read to my hearts desire inside the library, and anything that was to be signed out had to be paid for beforehand, with the money being returned when the book is.

I thought that was silly, as it meant you needed more bits for the rarer books, but I doubt the owners of the place would want those being signed out anyways. Looking at it from a business view,at a normal library one could walk in under a fake name, grab a pricey book, and walk out, while paying the same as if they were picking up a preschool math book.

This way, anyone could read what they wanted inside the place, while reducing the chances of any original copies or older tomes being stolen. It also prevents scribes from signing out something priceless and copying it to sell as a forgery, simply because the amount of bits that some of this work was valued at was more money than I'd even seen in my life.

But enough about the libraries sign out system. I was here for one reason: research.

That in mind, I ambled right past the fiction area and made my way to the research books, and began my search.

3 hours later I was barely any closer to finding out about the necklace, and with a growl my stomach reminded me it was lunch time. I had learned a few interesting things, such as the lack of known population in most parts of the world. That prompted me to look up exploration of the world and I didn't find anything interesting either, save for brief mention of a few royally funded excursions.

About 700 years ago, the royal family (aka Celestia, Luna was kind of on the moon) sent a group of scientists, guards, and a diplomat each in the direction of the four compass points. The east and west groups never came home, the southern one was forced to turn back by a yet undescribed indigenous, and the northern group returned with a griffin ambassador.

Though at that point I was completely off topic from what I came here for. I put the book I was on back up, and scanned the spines of the others to find something I could use.

Elements of Harmony. It had its own book. The whole time. My eyes narrowed as I thought of my wasted time, and I decided to not waste anymore. If I couldn't find out what I needed to from a book literally titled after what I wanted to research, I couldn't find it out.

So I took the book, placed it in my bag, and walked out the door. Yea, that's stealing, but I'll give it back eventually! Besides, with the price they're asking for it? Sorry, but I don't have 200 bits on me.

I made my way into the closest restaurant then immediately stopped to look around me. Shady ponies playing dice? Check. Creepy pony at the bar eyeballing at me? Check. Salt lines on the tabl- SALT?! I'm out!

And I did just that, getting out of that place without a glance back. I've seen more weirdness in my one day here in Canterlot, than my whole time living in Ponyville. That's not really saying much because Ponyville is dull and comparatively secluded, but whatever. For those who don't know, salt is a drug here. It is to ponies, at least. I'd personally never touched the stuff, and I didn't want to even be near it. In fact, that place should probably be reported.

After hopping between restaurants for a bit,I found a nice place and settled down, ordering immediately and waiting about 5 minutes before I got my salad. Eat, throw bits on table, leave.

Now what do I wanna do?

I'm going to go visit the palace. Never have, wasn't planning on it, but I'm still curious about the research groups that went out, and since Celestia sent them... I began my walk to the palace.

If I wasn't an idiot who couldn't see the big freaking castle and thought to head toward that, I might have been lost. It took a lot of circumnavigating buildings and such, but I eventually made my way through the gaps of the well dressed crowd and found myself on an empty road to the gate. Standing in front of it were a white pegasus and a white unicorn weilding big spears that nearly doubled them in size. They were decked out in armor that held the crest of the royal guard.

As I approached, they crossed their spears in front of me.

"Halt! What is your business at the palace?"

"I'm seeking audience with the Princess."

"This is an unexpected visit. Do you have an appointment?"

I stared at them for a good long minute, but they didn't budge. "Can I _make_ an appointment?"

The unicorn teleported. I raised an eyebrow at the remaining guard and got no response. I readjusted my cloak and made myself comfortable.

A while later the unicorn teleported back with a brown unicorn in a brown suit. By that time I had taken shade under a tree not 10 meters from the gate. The guard had taken up staring straight ahead of him. I wonder what they think about when they're just standing there...

The brown unicorn walked over. "The princess is booked for the evening." I looked up and saw the sun still high in the sky.

"It's not even evening yet." I said flatly while glaring at him.

"She's booked." The guards lowered their spears.

Guards don't usually point spears at people for fun, and I took the hint, deciding it wouldn't be worth the hassle to verbally badger my way in.

"Oh, it's going be that way?" I stood up and readjusted my cloak, turning to leave. It's not wonder I didn't see anyone else waiting to visit, these guys are assholes.

"Blank-Flank." What is _with_ these people? I mean, I come to the capital of my homeland, and I'm discriminated against by both the locals _and _the guards? Is nopony around here even somewhat civilized?

"Wanna make something of it?" I snarled, all stops pulled. I've been taking bullying and elitism my whole life, and it needs to stop! I pulled out my own spear, and extended it back to its form before swirling it in the air. The unicorn immediately launched his spear at me, and I caught it with my magic before pushing it straight into the ground and flattening its head after it was buried beyond the line of sight. I launched my own spear at the brown pony and stopping it an inch before his throat. I teleported right in front of him. I would have been worried about the guards making some sort of rescue attempt, however seeming as their... friend? Anyway, the brown one had his throat next to my spear, so I figured they'd be wary of making moves on me. I hoped, anyways. I felt kind of jittery as I was usually averse to violence, but I knew that I could feel the shakes later on.

"Listen, Mr. Brown. What do you do, here in the castle? What is your job?" I said, my now pleasant tone carrying a cold edge.

"I... I keep records..."

"Records of what?"

"T-That's royal business." Really? Still want to play the tough guy?

I split my spear into a bunch of small spikes, and had them circle his neck, still not touching him.

"Records of..." I trailed off to let him finish my sentence.

"I work in the treasury, okay? Just don't kill me!"

"You work in the treasury, eh? Oh, that's interesting. Very interesting. So tell me, what exactly is the Princess busy with?"

"Erm.. I-I.. I have no idea if she is or not."

Truth at last! "Okay, now that we don't know if she's occupied, how about you two" I looked at the guards "find me someone who does know?"

The unicorn spoke up. "Let him go, and we will consider."

"Or I let him go, then Mr. Magic Unicorn 'ports over here, saves you, and comes back with more guards to make my life difficult?" The spell on my mini-spears began to take its toll on me, as multi-levitation is no easy task. I fused them back together and brought the spear back to my side. "No thanks."

The brown pony ran back behind the guards to the gate, and the unicorn levitated a key from somewhere under his armor to unlock it for him. He disappeared through the arch and the doors slammed behind him. I didn't have much time left before I had a few squads in front of me, and while I am confident I could last for a while, I'd rather not risk it.

"All you snobby bastards in this city think its such a big damn deal to have a mark on your ass. I don't have one and I don't give a **fuck.** All I've gotten since I got here is shitty stares and comments like that and I'm fully and completely done with you elitist scumbags. Understood?" I growled at the guards. That prompted them into action. The pegasus took flight and charged at me with his spear, which I jerked up to parry with my own. I struck the shaft of the spear and watched as the wood splintered beneath my relatively powerless blow. The unicorn had just charged up a fireball spell which he launched at me, the pegasus flying out of the way.

I spread the spear-metal out into a flat sheet in front of me, and watched awestruck as the spell reflected off of my makeshift shield and onto the ground beside the unicorn. The blast threw him a couple feet into the wall where he smacked his head. The heavy clang of the armor didn't sound like it shielded him too much, and judging from his lack of movement I'm guess that he was knocked out.

I split my shield into multiple little spheres, and with the red swirled in them they looked like marbles. I peppered the pegasus with them every time he got close, and soon enough I heard the sounds of shouting and the clanking of armor.

I collapsed the metal back into a single ball before whacking the guard still present with it on the head, knocking him out before placing it back in my saddlebag. I fused the lock on the gate to buy some time. I then teleported as far down the road as I could manage before teleporting again to the entrance of an alleyway that I ducked into. I repeated that process, tele-hopping far enough to avoid the guards that were no doubt on my trail.

Looking around myself I found a few alleys branching off of the road I was on, and hurriedly ducked into the dirtiest, darkest one.

I took a couple deep breaths, because teleporting that many times in succession usually tired me something fierce, but I was feeling better a lot quicker than usual. I gathered myself together then galloped down the alley and ducked into a side street. I slowed my pace down to one of a casual appearance, and made my way to the train station unmolested. Casual on the outside anyways, I had just... Threatened? Assaulted? Whatever I did, it had my heart pumping like crazy.

Yea, that was going to have some repercussions later...

As the train began to pull into Ponyville Station, I heard murmuring from the other passengers. I tuned in and heard things like "royal" and "guard". That triggered alarms in my head that I would much rather have not been activated, however the only thing I could think of was: 'They followed me?'

Looking out the window, I saw that there was in fact guards waiting at the station, and I had no doubts it had to do with the recent altercation in Canterlot. I tele-hopped my way off the train, and onto a nearby rooftop. I pulled out my steel and separated a small piece which I flattened to use as a mirror. That was held up over the top of the roof so that I could see what was going on. The guards appeared to be checking out everyponies flanks, and seeming as the only information that the guards at the castle could have gotten was that I lacked a cutie mark, I found it easy to deduce why they were here. Either they were really horny and liked Ponyville mares, or they were looking for someone whose flank was bare.

As far as I knew I was the only one in Ponyville without a mark, so I wouldn't be too hard to spot. That is, if I was even on the train. I suppressed the urge to laugh as I teleported to the ground, and began the walk back to my humble abode.

Not 5 minutes into my walk I faintly heard the sound of a horn coming from above me. I saw a guard pegasus blowing a signal horn, or so it seemed, and I cursed to myself before breaking into a gallop straight in the direction of the Everfree.


	4. Chapter 3: A Chance Encounter or Two

Typically when one is running straight for one of the most dangerous places in the entire country, the ones pursuing should stop their chase and leave their target for dead. Of course, when the one fleeing has recently assaulted royal guards in the gate-yard of their own center of power, there's a little bit of personality involved with the case.

The Everfree forest used to be dangerous. Mothers and fathers would tell their young ones tales about the ferocious manticores, the crippling poison of the hydra, the unbridled speed and power and deadliness of the monsters that inhabited that particular forest. As is quite deductible, however, is the fact that nopony had recently lived to see these creatures and returned. None has emerged with tales of the Everfree in months. Those who enter, the foolish ones, go in and die. Battle-unicorns have been overwhelmed. Pegasi picked out of the sky. Earth ponies ripped limb from limb. The place has turned from a hazard into a death-trap, and that's precisely why I was going straight into that forest to evade the Equestrian Royal Guard.

Some might call me an idiot for that particular idea, and they would be right. But I would be damned if I didn't have a plan.

Not even close to confident as I ran towards the tree line, I pulled out both my spear-metal(I should really look at the blacksmiths note...) and my normal steel. I shaped both into sharpened propellers, and spun them out in front of me. I looked back to see 2 pegasi streaking towards me with spears lowered, and further back were 2 earth ponies and 2 unicorns running after me. I took great pleasure in seeing that the unicorns were not really used to running and were having a hard time of it.

I also noted that they seemed to keep an even split of all three pony races, though whether this was a single squad or two I couldn't tell. I looked back in front of me and saw I had a little ways to go before I was actually in the forest. I could outrun the guards if they didn't have any pegasi with them but they did, so I had to do something. I lifted my steel propeller back and held it above me as a spinning shield of sorts.

It seemed to work, as I heard two _clangs_ and shouted curses. I didn't have time to look back though, as the forest was upon me. I ducked under my steel propeller as I whipped it back in front of me, and kept ducked to get underneath an overhanging tree branch.

Most ponies, they would think of a thick forest as covered in brush and bushes on the floor. That was the problem I had manipulated my steel into solving. The Everfree completely changed my view of forests everywhere, and I let out an involuntary shudder as I felt all warmth of the setting sun disappear behind me.

The only way I can even come close to describing the sight I ran through was... dead.

From the outside, the forest looks like a normal, healthy, and rather scary woodland. However, from the inside it looked like a bare skeleton, a hollow shell of the crawling expanse that went as far as the eye could see. Thick trunks were scattered about, and the floor looked to be nothing but dirt, with a few large rocks dotting the canvas. Sparse patches of malnourished plants existed in where I guessed the sun peeked through for less an hour each day, though it surprised me it did at all. Looking above me I saw a chaotic weave of branches, all yearning to poke their way through the crowd of limbs around them and allow their leaves to glimpse the light whilst the branches beneath the canopy were dead and only serving to further block the light of day. I had to expend more energy and cast an illumination spell, as it was actually too dark to see my path. Seeing that I didn't need my propellers I put my steel back to a bar form and put it into my bag, and allowed my spear-metal to resume its original form.

I galloped through the forest until I felt my legs begin to tire. When that happened, I ducked behind a tree the size of my house and let my illumination spell fade out. The only reason I used my illumination spell was because I didn't have time to set up a night vision ritual. Now that I had a head start, I wasn't going to light myself up like a beacon for them to follow at their leisure. I looked carefully beyond the tree to see only the faintest of lights where the guard unicorns must have cast their own illumination spells. I had maybe 5 minutes, and my trail was all too visible on the creepily undisturbed dirt.

I quickly lit up my spell again and, after stabbing my spear into the soil, I pulled out my steel. I wasted no thought on flattening it then taking the time to carefully shape a ritual circle into it. I placed a three-point star in the middle, then at the end of each point I put the runes for Sight, Help, and Light. I forced the press down onto the ground with as much pressure as I could manage, and let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. The ritual circle lay imprinted into the dirt, and I quickly sent magic into it and stopped when I saw the forest lighten up enough to see well. Now it was at least just as dark as a cloudy night, instead of the soul-sucking, suffocating shadows that surrounded me not a minute previously. I put my steel up and scuffed through the ritual circle with a hoof as I raised myself to look around the tree again. The guards were close, and I had to choose now whether to fight them or to keep running and hope that the forest had enough deadly creatures to take out a trained squad.

If I fought I could risk losing and, you know, dying. Or making so much noise in the fight that something comes along and decides that ponies are for dinner tonight.

If I ran, I could just as easily run right into the den of... well... any number of things that would sooner eat me then sit and discuss the weather. Add that onto the risk of being hunted, lost, injured, or any number of things, and I decided I wanted out of this place as soon as possible.

The quickest way would be through the guards, but I quickly dismissed that idea as stupid. They were _guards._ It doesn't matter if they're blocking me from going out, or blocking a hopped-up junkie from the castle, they do their job. So I couldn't get straight through them, and if I tried to go around and messed up, I'd just be close enough for the guards to get me in their illumination spells then I'm just another statistic. No thanks.

My next idea was to scare them so they either fainted in fear (yea right), or got spooked enough to ditch the chase. I couldn't think of anything that scary, so that was out.

A thought came across my mind to kill them all, but I quickly brushed that off as folly. What good would it be to escape tonight and have a battalion come storming through my house in a few days?

Ponies get lost to the Everfree all the time though, at least any stupid enough to go dashing in there expecting a picnic. I'm surprised I'm still alive, to be frank. That thought just set my paranoid alarm off, and I looked around me to make sure I wasn't being watched. Then I remembered I probably wouldn't see something coming to kill me until it killed me, which made me more paranoid.

I thought of an idea that changed the rest of my life.

I separated my spear metal and steel into small balls that I lifted them in groups of five, and saw 6 groups before me with three being of each metal. Good as I was going to get, I suppose. I fused one group of steel into a single ball, then shrunk it down to the size of the other balls. My mechakinesis is a curious type of magic, one that I was told was passed down by my father. It lets me change the shape of metal, everything about it down to the density. I couldn't multiply it or do any sort of alchemy with it, however slight that downfall may be. What I can do, is expand and contract it to any shape and size I need, with the weight remaining constant. This in mind, I fused the other two groups of steel into the small one, making what was essentially the worlds heaviest marble at the moment.

I stepped out from behind the tree, and teleported the steel ball halfway towards them, letting it hit the ground with a heavy thud. As I'd hoped, the guards thought it was me, and I stifled a laugh at traditional gullibility. Then I was glad I didn't laugh, because the group split up and I saw a trio going towards both me and the marble.

Magic 101: Teleporting makes a flash. That in mind, I quickly formulated a new plan.

I spread out my spear metal into five equal sized chunks, then teleported them all behind a tree about halfway between myself and the guards that were coming towards me. They saw the flash and ran towards where they thought I had gone to, and that's when I teleported each ball one-by-one into a pentagram behind trees around the guards. That confused the hell out of them, and I saw them get close together and the unicorn begin shining his light around randomly at the trees. Poor fools probably thought they were dealing with five unicorns. Either way, when he saw that he should have extinguished his light. Leaving it shining was as dumb as yelling out "Eat me" at the top of your lungs. I knew I had to put out his light or risk attracting something.

I levitated four of the balls out from behind their respective trees, and after shaping them into scythes I sent them all at the legs of the unicorn.

I didn't sleep well for a month after what happened next, though the speed at which events happened rendered my memory a haze. His scream filled the eerie silence of the forest, and I saw the light from the other group of guards jerk our way then start getting closer. The unicorn by me had fallen to the ground and was waving his stumps of legs madly, blood spurting from the clean cuts. His spell had gone out as soon as he hit the ground and now the other guards stood over the unicorn, wondering what the hell happened. The scythes lay dug into the dirt with blood spattered across them, though it didn't show much due to the streaks of red and the lack of light in the forest. I warped the metal back into balls, making sure that all the blood was folded inside so I wouldn't get it on anything.

The unicorns screaming was no doubt going to bring some attention to us, if the wildly jerking light of the other group didn't give us up to the fauna of the area. I formed the last ball that I hadn't used into a spike, then hovered it over the dying guards head. I slammed it down through his ear and he died instantly. I quickly lifted it back up so the guards didn't see it, but I didn't have many worries about their ability to see in this darkness anyways. Luckily, for all they know their only source of light was dead, and the silence returned to blanket the forest floor.

Then a roar came from deeper in the forest, and my very bones reverberated to its power. It was the most terrifying roar I had ever heard, but the only one so I didn't have much to go by.

_Shit._

The guards looked a lot more scared than me. I think the pegasus actually pissed himself a little. I was pretty close to that point as well, I'll admit.

My head whipped around to where I thought it came from, and I already figured it was something big. Mice do not roar, nor do lions mew as kittens do. That cut out manticore, as they usually stalk their prey in silence. It could be a hydra, a chimera, even a dragon. Whatever it was, there was no way I wanted to find out first hand.

"I didn't sign up for this!" I looked back to the guards, and they were a bit more composed, though the earth pony took off towards the other group, leaving the pegasus alone with the corpse of the unicorn. My eyes caught movement, something slinking across the forest floor.

And before I knew it, a manticore had leapt at the pegasus and sliced its wings off with one swipe of its massive paw. For all those who don't know, wings are very sensitive. For him it had to feel like his dick just got cut through.

Just to clarify why I'm scared shitless at this point, let me describe the average manticore. Standing on four powerful legs that ended in sharp, long claws, the beast was a cruel amalgamation of fear and death. Boasting the body of a lion, paired with the set of taloned bat-wings that spread tattered from its back, this creature is fast and lithe and ready to kill you in the air, or on land. As if that wasn't enough, a large scorpions tail filled with deadly acidic venom tops the cake. Scary, right?

I never got to hear the scream of the pegasus, because before he even realized his wings were gone there was a set of jaws clamped over his head. When the jaws moved back from the body, there was no head. Poof! Like magic.

Except not magic, but a very deadly creature. It turned towards me with blood dripping from its maw, and I froze in place. I saw it swallow the entire head _whole_, and that was what got me. Not cutting off some legs myself, not the guards chasing me, not the darkness, not even the original roar. It just swallowed a head and brain, without chewing.

Fuck me sideways and call me a cookie, but I don't want my head disappearing down the throat of a lion/scorpion-thing with wings. Fortunately I didn't see how said occurrence would feel because the other guards showed up, light cast onto the manticore standing over the now 2 dead guards. The earth ponies stepped in front of the unicorn, spears held out, while the pegasus took to the air above the unicorn. If the unicorn allowed his light to go out, they would be dead before making it halfway back to the forest edge, and I had little faith that they would be safe just for leaving the forest

In that moment, before the slaughter of the guards, we heard the roar again, even louder than the previous time. But the manticore didn't make the noise.

Shitshitshitshitshit!

Here I am, sitting behind a tree, not moving or anything, and there's a manticore not twenty feet from me. On top of that already precarious situation, something ELSE is coming, and it's probably even bigger!

That was pressed to the back of my mind as the imminent problem launched itself at the guards, and my mind was wrapped around the deadly dance of mortal combat. The unicorn threw up a flat shield that the manticore slammed into with a feline yowl. The shield was broken but the beast was stopped long enough for one of the earthies to jab a spear at it.

With a quick flap of its bat-like wings it propelled itself over the spear head, and stabbed the hovering pegasus through the neck with its tail. Still impaled on the scorpion appendage, the poor flying pony had enough time to gurgle in surprise before it was flung at a nearby tree with enough force to at least break a couple bones.

Mr. Big, Tall, and Deadly wasn't done by any notion of the word, though. He leapt at the earthie that tried to stab him with jaws open and claws outstretched, but he was yanked back by the unicorns magic.

In hindsight I probably should have left, but I found this fascinating, how easily this wild animal was taking out a squad or two of Equestria's finest.

My intrigue was ground to a halt when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I whipped my head around and saw the weirdest looking minotaur that's ever existed. He was small, bare, hornless, wore odd clothing that was covered with a cloak, and a bent staff was held in his left paw. I almost yelled in alarm but he (I assumed it was a he by the short black and grey mane that adorned his head and a fair amount of his face) gestured for my silence and I didn't have a hard time listening to that gesture.

He then pointed to his eyes and then his chest. _Watch me _is what I think he was trying to say so I nodded. He then vanished into thin air as I heard a low growl from behind me. I looked back towards the fight and saw the guards in various states of dismemberment and death, with the manticore staring right for me. I pulled my spear metal back together into its shape, and started to swirl it in front of me.

In the time it took me to blink the beast leapt for me. It never had the chance to finish its jump however, as I saw it go limp mid-air and come crashing to the forest floor. It slid to a halt not 3 feet from where I stood. I saw its eyes open back up and I jabbed my spear through its skull, hopefully killing it.

"Good work."

I whipped back around and stabbed my spear where I heard the voice from, and I saw the not-minotaur lean around the spear with reflexes I wouldn't have believed had I not seen them. Specks of manticore blood flew from the blade and landed on his face, but he just wiped it off.

"Careful where you point that thing, you might hurt someone."

"Well no shit." I deadpanned.

"You can do unique magic. I've never seen anything able to manipulate metal like that, save for a guy I know back home. It takes him a lot more time, and a forge though."

"What's a guy?" I asked, confused with his language.

"I'm a guy, you're a guy. Anything with a dick, it's a guy. Doesn't matter, because since you're here, you can help me carry this thing."

"Um… How about we leave it and go before something bigger gets here?"

He stifled a laugh. "Are you kidding? Do you even know how this forest works?"

"Yea, you walk in here, watch guards get mauled, then get eaten."

He shook his head. "What are you, new?"

"What are _you_?"

"Seriously, I swear nobody around here knows what a human is."

"So you're a human?"

"Yea, I am." Well, hot damn. I met a new species, that even speaks Equestrian.

"Okay, Mr. Human, how does the forest work then?"

"It's not really how the forest works, but how I work. See, you ponies come into here expecting to die. In reality, it's not that everything here is out to get you. They're hungry. The monsters you fear are tame compared to others I've seen. This manticore was just hunting for a meal. Have you seen the state of this place?"

I looked around and saw more dead stuff. Trees, manticores, guards.. "I get your point."

"Right. Now, I'm in here hunting _them._"

I took a very slow step back. "Are you hunting _me?_"

"Nah, Ponies are too gamey for me."

"YOU EAT MEAT?!"

"Shush." He said, holding up a hand. "Anyways, we got off track. You gotta help me get this thing to my place."

"Why do you want a dead manticore?"

"Poison, meat, and selling the rest to some apothecary for a wonderful payday."

At the word 'payday' I reconsidered. It's not that I'm a greedy person who will do anything for money, it's just that… I live in poverty. I'm one of the few ponies in this country who doesn't have a cutie mark, and therefore can't get a decent job. Those thrice-damned marks are basically letters from the princess as far as mark-related jobs go. That in mind, I picked up the manticore with my magic. I would have done this during the fight but as a general rule of magic, living things are harder to manipulate than non-living.

"We bring it back to my place. In return for saving you the effort, you answer some questions."

He laughed. "How about in return for saving your life, we go question for question, and you still carry it all the way back?"

I nodded and started my way out of the forest at a light jog. "Deal"

"So, I'll let you have first question."

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"You know," he replied. "It's not proper to ask a name before giving one."

"That's not an answer."

He sighed. "My name is Vanidadh."

"Weird name." I commented.

"Yes it is."

"I've heard weirder, don't worry."

"Oh, I'm so very relieved." Sarcasm was incredibly evident. "Now, I saw what you did with your ritual earlier. I assume that you can see in the dark using that?" I nodded. He turned towards the carcass of what would have been my death and yanked a couple of wooden shafts out as we ran.

"What are those?"

"Arrows. Ammunition for my bow." I know what my next question will be. "Can you show me more of your unique magic?"

"When we get out." I replied. "And it's called mechakinesis, though that's just the name I gave to it. And thanks for asking my name." He opened his mouth. "It's Violet." I cut him off before he could say anything.

In all truthfulness I should be laying on the ground rocking back in forth and throwing up. I saw, and even caused a death. I… I murdered another pony in cold blood. I witnessed a manticore maul a good amount of working ponies, because I led them into the forest. I didn't see it too well but this… human apparently managed to paralyze said manticore mid jump in order for me to finish it. And now here we are, walking along with the giant dead beast floating in front of us, chatting like we're sitting down for coffee. I guess this is what some ponies call a traumatic experience. I'm more elated that I'm alive, than anything.

"Hey, what did you do to the manticore?" I asked.

"Shot it with my bow." He said nonchalantly.

"Bullshit." I instantly called.

He whipped his staff up and I heard a thunk, followed by the appearance of three of those wooden "arrows" in the manticores torso.

"What was that? I'm sorry, I guess I couldn't hear you over the sound of your skepticism." He said with a grin.

"Shut up." I replied.

He let off a small laugh before asking his question.

"Why were the guards after you?"

"I'll tell you the full story at my place, only because I owe you my life. For now, lets just say I made a fool of them in the royal castle."

"Now this one, I've got to hear."

I shoved the manticore through the tree-line before walking out myself, Vanidadh following right behind me. I took a moment to get my bearings, and figured I was maybe an hour walk from my place.

"I said I'd tell you later. My turn: Where are all the humans, and why haven't I seen any before?"

"That's two questions." He noted. "Which do you want answered first?"

"I'm certain the answer to the first will cover the second one as well."

"Well, all the humans are dead."

"... and that's the end of questions for now, we've got quite a trip to my place."

Thankfully he didn't want to talk about an extinction any more than I did. "I can run pretty fast, you opposed to making this trip a bit quicker?"

"Not at all. However I'm carrying a rather large object at the moment, so I'd like to go slower. If I ran I have no doubts that we would need to stop part way for me to recover. Although…" I trailed off.

Back in Canterlot I found myself gaining energy a lot faster than what I was used to. It was an odd feeling but it helped me escape the guards, and that's what counted at the time. But when I really think about it, there must have been a reason. I dropped the manticore and teleported as far ahead as I could, then without a break I teleported right back. I could feel the telltale drain as I got back, but within seconds I was back to how I was before the teleport.

"Uhm…" Vanidadh looked at me. "What was that for?"

"Nothing, just a test." I brushed him off with before picking up the manticore with my magic. "Stay here for a second."

I teleported myself and the manticore as far as I could yet again, and before the exhaustion set in I dropped the beast and teleported myself back. My legs gave out beneath me and I fell down in an undignified heap. _1...2...3...4… _I counted and found myself able to get up after about 20 seconds, ready to move again after a minute.

"Incredible…" Was all I could say. "Hey, Van!"

"Yo."

"What?"

"Human thing, don't worry about it."

"Sure. Anyways, race you to the body?"

"Why not?" As soon as those words left his mouth he took off running. I galloped full speed after him, and while I'm not the fastest pony around, this was the first time I was ever outrun by a bi-pedal. The only other upright walkers I knew of were younger dragons, the dog people, and the minotaurs, though the dogs go down to all fours when they run.

We reached the manticore in about a minute, and I had to stop there to catch my breath. I waited for my energy to start picking back up again but I felt nothing happening, only the tiring feeling of the run.

"So what was the point of all that?" Vanidadh asked me.

"More tests. Here's how we'll get to my home faster: I'll 'port ahead with the manticore, and wait for you to catch up. Then we repeat that until we're there. Sound good?"

"I don't see why not."

So we did just that. I teleported ahead, and by the time he caught up with his impressive speed and endurance I was feeling well enough to 'port ahead again. By doing this I figured out my suddenly amazing rejuvenation skills only applied to magic, not to physical labour. Endless possibilities would be whirring through my mind, had I not been tired from the long day. All I wanted right now was to get home, lay on my bed, and sleep.

* * *

**Hello readers! I have a few things to say, and the first is sorry for my horrible update schedule, not that it matters considering nobody follows, favorites, or reviews this story. I always told myself I would not be one of those authors that fishes for reviews, and so I won't. I'll just say that they would be appreciated, and if anyone finds any inconsistencies or issues with the story, feel free to let me know. Lastly, I'm in the market for a beta reader for this story to both run new chapters by and to bounce the occasional idea off of. **

**Thanks for reading Shimmering Lights, and stick around because this will be one long, epic, hell of a ride!**

**~HHR**


	5. Chapter 4: Northward Bound

**Authors note: Longest chapter yet, and I had fun writing this one. I know I may not be the best author, but I have plans for this story. Unfortunately I depart for military schooling in a couple weeks. I'll try to get another chapter, maybe two done before I go, and I'll be writing while I'm gone. When I get leave I'll type up and post what I've got so you'll be getting chunks of multiple chapters at a time, followed by a while of no updates. Sorry for the sporadic schedule but I've seen authors say "I'll post every friday" then you get nothing for months. I'd rather you guys know what's going to happen than be waiting for something for months. **

**My thanks for reading the story thus far. Sub-par writing is preferable to boredom in my opinion, and the beta offer is open still. Also, if anyone has a griffin OC, I think I could work it in there somewhere because I plan on the griffin arc being at least 10 chapters. **

**It's also come to my attention that this is not canon Equestria. I am well aware. I know there is also not much PJatO. I'm writing this story as an AU fic, and while this means it does take after the original content somewhat, I won't be using many of the main characters. I don't trust in my ability to portray a character that was created by someone else. I would hate to have people think I'm writing OoC for masterfully developed characters, so I will leave them be and have a cameo or two. **

**And yes, they will get to Camp Half-Blood eventually. It'll be a while yet though. **

**Enjoy Shimmering Lights!**

**~HHR**

* * *

I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Maybe if I was on my own, with no manticore carcass and no human following me to make sure he got what he needed off of said carcass, I could have had a decent nights sleep. But _no, _he followed me home and set to carving up the manticore in my house before I kicked him outside to do it, then he wanted me to help him with some light so I stayed outside with him well into the night. He extracted the poison from the tail into glass vials he pulled from somewhere under his cloak, and cut off some chops and tasked me with starting a fire. This wasn't that difficult, because magic.

By the time we finished the sun was rising over the horizon and I was tired, hungry, and thoroughly ready to slip into a coma until next year. I went inside while he was cooking, lay down, and slept.

Of course, good things never last. In what felt like a second I was shaken awake by Vanidadh. I got up with a start, horn glowing as I prepared a spell before I realized it was my acquaintance from the night previous.

"Ugh…" I croaked. I have a shitty morning voice that sounds like a mixture of frog and sandpaper. "What do you want?"

"To give you your share." At that my brain started to get itself going.

"My share of what?" I sat up and rubbed sleep from my eyes, and saw it was well past morning.

"You helped kill the manticore, did you not?"

All of it came rushing back to me. The guards, the beast, the _other _beast that I never saw, and I killed a pony, I remember the spurting blood and the screams, the headless pegasus, and it swallowed the head whole! I teleported outside and threw up. Vanidadh came out while I was puking and awkwardly patted my back. I was in no state to stop him so I just let it go as an attempt to comfort me. After I managed to halt the flow of digested food, I found myself incredibly hungry. I pointed to the orchard from my pathetic position. "Breakfast."

Thankfully he got the hint and jogged off. In the time alone I managed to painfully reflect on what I had done. Murder was not something anypony could take lightly, and even though I killed with magic, I still feel as if I might as well stabbed him through with my very own horn. I felt tears begin to well up.

No way, I haven't cried in 10 years, and I've been through some pretty heavy shit. The tears were wiped off before they could manifest into that whole icky, water down your face, dripping snot, self-pitying sobbing that deep inside I wanted to let out. I saw Van returning a couple minutes later down a row in the orchard with a bunch of apples wrapped up in his cloak, and that was the end of that. With his cloak off I could see that he wore two bandoliers over his chest, one carrying weird looking knives and the other full of pouches. On the right side of his hip he wore two swords, one a normal iron short sword, the other a dual prong sword, the longer prong being what looked like bronze and the short one looking to be gold. I wondered why he didn't pick one metal and stick with it, but whatever. On his back his weird curved staff was held, and at his left hip a container with about 5 of those "arrows" swung with his movements. His clothing was black with a dull shine to it, and it looked rather thick. I'd never seen the material before.

Thankfully by the time he returned I'd magicked the bucket over from the well behind my place and washed up. I still felt like death, but I'd be okay. I did my best to push last nights events as far back into my tired mind as I could, and stood shakily on my own four hooves. I wordlessly magicked an apple over to myself and started eating it, looking up after I'd finished my apple.

"So, just why couldn't you wait until I'd slept a little more?" I asked him testily.

"I figured after a full day of sleeping, you'd be fine being woken up. My bad." He replied, taking his own apple and dumping the rest on the ground.

I picked up another apple and took a couple bites. Now that my hunger was removed from the front of my mind, I took in his words. "I slept a day, you say?"

He wordlessly nodded as he ate.

"Huh. Well, in that case, thanks for letting me sleep."

"No problem, I had to take care of that kill anyways." He said, finishing his apple. "I already ate earlier, but help yourself to the rest."

"Thank you. So... what did you do with it?" I asked, hesitant to find out what occurred after I fell asleep.

He took out vials of a dark liquid from one of his chest-worn pouches and laid them out in front of him. "Poison. Enough to tip my arrows for around 30 shots." He took out one of his knives and pulled a strip of something from another pouch. "Jerky. I really like jerky." With that he cut a piece off and ate it. He put the meat away and reach behind him where I saw a pack was attached horizontally to his lower back. He pulled out two light brown bags that I quickly realized held bits. He tossed one in front of me, and another beside his vials of poison. "And some cash to spend on getting you a decent set of armor."

I was elated at the gold landing in front of me, as it was more than I'd made since I got to Ponyville about 2 years ago. I was checked by his words though. "Why is it that I need armor again?"

"You don't have much money, do you?" He asked casually.

"Sure I do!" I replied hotly.

"Which is why you're living in a shack out of town, hidden at the edge of an abandoned apple orchard, stealing your food, and picking fights with guards." Damnit I hate his casual attitude.

"Alright, you got me. Now, if you would explain why I want to use this much money on armor instead of, you know, to live?" I inquired.  
"Simple." He answered. "You just made a killing off of a killing, if you'll forgive my pun. Even if you didn't like doing it, you can't refuse that your unique magic has combat capabilities. I was thinking about the name you gave it, mechakinesis?" I nodded. "Well, I bet that means you can control metal." I nodded again. "Which means you can make whatever weapon, defense, anything you need instantaneously, rather than having to lug it all around with you." He threw three of his daggers down onto the ground. "Make me a sword, right now." I shrugged and did it. He picked it up and tossed it from side to side.

"Can you make this into two?" He said, after stabbing it into the ground. I did that too, and he picked up both, before flowing through a series of motions so smooth and refined that I wouldn't have any trouble believing he was dancing.

"See what I mean? Alright, now…" He had me make those three daggers into a bunch of weapons, some of which I'd never heard of but he described the shape to me and got me to fine-tune each. He looked to be handy with every weapon I gave him, though not as much as with the two swords. He even got me to make him a warhammer, which he wielded efficiently though I had at first doubted he could even lift it. After that trial, I made the metal back into knife form, and he took those knives and put them back into their sheaths. He pulled out his actual swords.

"Walk with me." He seemed to be on to something so I followed him over to a tree that I'd picked bare of apples. He held out his iron sword and told me to dull the blade, so I did. He swung it at the tree and it sank halfway into it.

"I thought I said dull the blade?" He asked quizzically.

"I did!" I exclaimed. "What'd you do?!"

He let out a bark of laughter. "I'm messing with you, this here is Oxys."

"Did you just name your sword?" I asked him. "Are you alright?"

"No, the swords name actually is Oxys. It mean sharp where I'm from. This blade will never dull, no matter if the dulling force is magical, physical, anything." I looked at both him and it in a new kind of awe.

"So what does your other sword do?"

He hoisted the dual prong up. "It doesn't have any special properties, it's just my favourite sword, so I take good care of it and it does the same for me."

"Okay, so you want me to make money… by killing ponies?"

"Uhm.. Ok, I think you understood me wrong. Did you make money off the guard you killed? Or did you make it off of the manticore?"

"You want me to kill MONSTERS for money?!" I exclaimed. "Are you crazy?"

"Oh calm down, you're acting like I suggested we assassinate the griffin king. I'm saying that we could make a good team. I don't have access to the weapons I need, and you can make them. You're powerful magically from what I can tell, as I've never seen another unicorn teleport before. Also, I have a few.. human things I could give you information about. See if we can't make some extra money on the side by selling them as our own inventions."

By that point I realized he was serious. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Fully and completely."

"And you think that we could not only do well, but prosper like that?"

"If we can get you good enough to make siege weapons, we could challenge the leader of the dragons himself." He said, confidently. "Imagine having possession of the greatest horde in history."

"The dragons have a leader?"

"The ponies are still the prime intelligent species on this planet, and it isn't because you're stronger than dragons."

That actually makes a lot of very disturbing sense. "And what's a siege weapon?"

He smiled at that. "Human device. A siege was an assault against an enemy castle, lasting anywhere from a month to several years. An army would camp outside the walls to kill any that left, while the siege weapons pounded away at the walls until either the defenders got reinforcements, fought back, or until the walls fell and the invading army could storm in. Oftentimes, a king in his castle would be forced to surrender to save the lives of his people."

I latched onto his train of thought. "So if these weapons can take down castle walls, what's to stop them from taking down a full grown dragon?"

He stopped me again. "Dragons are never fully grown. They aren't immortal, but they're very close. They grow along with the size of their horde. That's why to challenge the owner of the biggest dragon horde is to challenge the biggest dragon."

Blood rushed out of my face. "You want _us _to do that?"

"Eventually. For now, let's see what we can do with what we've got, and save up for a decent place."

I stared at him. "We? Since when did I already agree to this?"

He stared back. "I saved your life. You're coming with me until you pay me back."

I stamped the ground. "Fine. But don't tell me how to spend my money."

He shrugged. "You're no use to me dead. I'll buy your armor for you."

"I think you're forgetting I can shape metal to whatever I need it to be. All we need is raw materials, and something to fasten it on."

"Good thing I know how to make leather then."

"What's leather?" I asked, curious.

"I'll tell you after we make the armor. Do you have a supplier for your metal?"

I jerked my head towards Ponyville. "There's a blacksmith in town that I have an… arrangement with."

"Let's go, then." He said, walking towards town.

"Hey, wait there, I have to grab my stuff."

I ran back inside and threw the bag of bits that I got from Van into my saddlebag. After a moment, I opened up my safe and took the rest of my bits out. If I'm going to be making good money from now on, well I'll be damned if I'm eating apples again tonight. I grabbed the canteen I swiped from the library and hung its strap around my neck so it dangled like a necklace. I checked my bag and found the necklace from the library and threw it back into my safe, leaving my spear-metal inside. I checked the note that the blacksmith gave me:

_Violet, you bastard child,_

_If you hadn't paid for this beforehand, there's no way I would have made it for you. However, here's your queer mix of Stygian Iron infused with Hellfire. If you ever use it on me I'll rip your nads out so hard your kids will squeal in pain._

_Best Blacksmith in Equestria,_

_Mr. Smith._

I was willing to bet that was not even close to his real name, but it did fit so I decided I'd call him that from now on. Besides, who gives a rats ass what his name is? He does good work, I pay him, and he gave me weird metals I've never heard of that seem to work really well, all while saying I already paid him for it. Not that I'm complaining.

I bustled about, cleaning up all the scraps and plans over the floor and wrapping everything into a sheet of metal foil that I compressed and then tossed out the window. That's my homemade garbage disposal system. Sure, there's a few heavy metal balls sitting outside, but as soon as it rains and the ground gets muddy they sink down beneath the soil and I never see them again.

With a clean, clutter-free home, I smiled and teleported outside, waiting for the energy to come right back to me. After a minute I still felt the small nagging feeling of being less than full on magical energy. After another minute of me just standing there, Vanidadh walked over.

"Hey, you okay there?" He asked. My mind was still whirring, trying to figure out what had happened. I had this awesome power, this amazing ability that changed my life, and now it's gone. It started when I was running away from the guards, and before that I did nothing but buy the bestiary, have food, research stuff in the library.. and swipe the necklace and canteen from the late Element of Magic wielder.

"Yea, one second." I ran back inside my home, opened up my safe, and took out the necklace. I molded it into a gold horn covering, and teleported back outside. I felt the energy flood back into me quicker than before, and I looked up at my new accessory.

"Incredible…" I mused to myself.

"Violet, why's your horn shiny?" I levitated one of his knives out and rapped it against my horn, producing a metal clinking noise. He held his hand out and I dropped his knife back into it.

"Ok, I know we'll be getting quite a bit of money in the future, but do you really think we should parade it around like that?" He asked.

"No, this is a magical artifact, I'm willing to bet. It's probably the reason I even made it to the forest, rather than sitting in an Equestrian prison awaiting trial by Princess. I don't know how it works, but I feel like whenever I use magic, I'm only lending the energy to the spell, not giving it. I get replenished after my spells."

"That's why you teleported home instead of walking after we met?"

"Right." I confirmed. "But here's the thing I'm curious about: Where did it come from?"

"Who knows, who cares. Let's get going already."

"Just a moment." I walked over to the well and pulled the bucket up, and filled up my canteen. I dropped the bucket back down, screwed the top back onto the canteen, and walked back around front of my work-shack.

"Okay, I'm set. Let's go." With that, we began our walk into town.

Nothing worth noting happened, we spent most of the walk going over what we'd do when we were rich and famous monster slayers, such as building an impenetrable fortress and going over various human technology that I had a very hard time comprehending. Van kept going on about some shit called electricity, and I told him I'd rather stick with magic then get "electrocuted" to death.

When we got to Ponyville just before noon, I saw that my temporary companion was getting a lot of stares, and judging by his expression he didn't like it that much.

"Hey, Van.." I whispered to him.

"What." He growled.

"You see all those marks that all these ponies have on their ass?"

"You mean cutie marks."

I groaned. "That sounds so _feminine _though. Anyways, I don't have one. Point being, you get used to the stares. Discrimination is why I got into trouble with the Guard, so try not to pay attention."

He took my advice to heart and jumped at a mare that was whispering to her friend while staring at the both of us. She screamed rather loudly and we decided to run to the blacksmith before anyone thought to "save" her from us.

Keep in mind we were two relatively unknown ponies... Or a pony and a human wearing dark cloaks and strolling through town with a purpose. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I was a vampony.

We made it to the forge unmolested and I knocked hard on the door. A muffled shout was heard and the clanging of typical metalwork stopped as the forgemaster came to the door and opened it with a snarl on his face.

"Mr. Smith." I greeted.

"Runt." He returned. "Who's your pal?"

"A customer." I parried.

His attitude dropped and he beckoned us in. "Give me just a moment." He said as he rushed back over to his forge to pull out a shoe and hammer it a few times before sinking it into the cooling trough with a hiss and a puff of steam. After that he walked back over to us.

"What can I do you for?" He inquired. I looked over to Vanidadh and he nodded.

"I need whatever metal you have that I can make into serviceable armor." I told him.

"What, you planning on enlisting in the guard? Sorry to tell you, kid, but you have to wear the standard issue crap that they give you." He warned.

I shook my head. "Not the guard."

"Then what for?" He looked genuinely curious.

"The Everfree and abroad."

If his jaw could've stretched far enough it would've hit the ground.

"Now why in the blazes would you want to go there?!" He half asked, half yelled.

Bragging time. "Well I took out a manticore a coupl-"

"Bullshit." He cut me off.

"I'm sure the bulls would find that very polite." I snarked. "But I shit you not. Van, can you give him some venom?"

Vanidadh stared at me. "That wasn't part of the deal."

I countered back with "I'd like to make sure my armor can stand up to acidic venom, in case we go up against a hydra next time."

He grinned. "Smart thinking." With that he pulled out a vial and put it on the table.

Mr. Smith looked to the vial, then at us, as if we were crazy. "You weren't kidding, were you?"

"Not at all."

"I can tell you right now that nothing I have here can withstand hydra venom. You'd need something insanely strong for that, like mythril or the like, and I don't think you have the budget for it."

I took a moment and thought about what to do. Thankfully my human partner came to the rescue.

"Then where would we find something that could handle it?" He asked.

"Well shit, you're really set on this. Alright, I'll tell you what: I'll tell you where to find mythril ore if you bring some back for me to use."

I pondered for a moment. "I don't suppose you could just tell me, because you're nice."

The smith let out a bark of laughter. "Yea right, kid. I want at least 20 pounds of it, or you're stuck with steel."

"You want me to carry 20 lbs of metal back from the griffin territories?"

Vanidadh looked at me. "You wanna melt because a monster spit on you?"

My mind was made up nearly instantly after that. "Deal. Where's the mythril?"

Mr. Smith grinned a greedy grin. "Up in the griffin territories. Find a guy named Myth Buster-"

Vanidadh began laughing uproariously, and it took a bit of time for him to calm himself. As his laughter died down, the smith glared at him. "What's so funny about my brothers name, punk?"

The human waved it off while wiping a tear of mirth from his eye. "Human thing, don't worry about it."

"Humph. Anyways, find Myth Buster and tell him that the earth is a mine, and he'll know I sent you. He should help you out, and if he doesn't just tell him to remember the fire at home and that he owes me for it."

I was skeptic about this. "The griffin territories are large, how are we supposed to find one pony among the thousands that live there?"

He stared at me. "Look for the only pony?"

"True enough." I acceded before turning to my partner. "You need anything?"

He nodded then turned to the store owner. "You have celestial bronze?"

"What?"

"How about imperial gold?"

"Nope."

"Really? Stygian iron?"

"Used the last of it on the runts spear."

At that Van turned to me and grinned. "You already have a Demi-weapon?"

I drew a blank. "Um... I guess?"

He turned back to the smith. "Nevermind, we're set. Any tips for the griffin territories?"

"Dress warm, and pack warmer. Now get out of here if you're not buying anything. Time is bits, and I have no bits to waste talking."

With that we took our leave of the shop, stepping out into the relatively cool air outdoors. Unfortunately there was quite a crowd waiting for us, around 100 or so ponies, with the mayor at the head of the group. I wouldn't be close to surprised if the whole population had showed up, just because nothing ever happens in this hicktown. Although, when I look closely at the crowd, I can see that this isn't a mob of anger, but of fear, and they all stayed behind the mayor as if to let her protect them from us.

"Excuse me, sirs. Pardon my bluntness, but might I ask what you are doing here in Ponyville?"

I opened my mouth to tell Van to let me handle this, but he cut me off.

"Sure. We're getting shit for monster hunting."

The crowd erupted into hushed whispers and a lot of dark looks were sent our way. The mayor swallowed and shuffled on her hooves nervously.

"Well I assure you there are no monsters here. You're scaring the residents, and I'm going to have to..." She gulped again as Vanidadh casually spread his cloak out to show his armaments. "Ask you and your… friend to leave?"

Shit. "And if we don't?" Shut up Van!

"The guards are on their way to ensure you leave peacefully."

I glared at her. "So let me get this straight." I took a step forward and she held her ground. Van kept back to watch events unfold. "My human friend and I walk into town looking mysterious." Another step. "We bring business to local shopkeepers." Another step. "We do nothing to anypony." At this point I was inches from her face, and was staring straight into her eyes. "Maybe I wanted to live here. Settle down from all these years of hunting dragons and hydras and the like. Yet instead of the peaceful welcome that I was told to expect here, I have a mob and the mayor herself here to boot me from the town before I even have lunch? Not to mention guards coming to 'escort' us out?" She looked scared, but gathered the courage to nod.

I backed up a step. "So be it." I turned and walked to the human. "You ever wanted to teleport?" I whispered to him. I didn't wait for a response before 'porting us to the back of the shop, where we took off running back to my place, leaving the incredibly xenophobic populous behind. I had no doubts that the general problem was the fact that none of them had ever seen a human before. That, along with the increased danger from the neighboring Everfree, probably had them paranoid that Van was here to eat their foals or something. Either way, because we had a long journey up to the griffin territories looming ahead of us, this just means we would leave sooner rather than later.

"Teleporting is very uncomfortable." Van complained.

"Noted." I replied.

When we got to my home, Van waited outside and I grabbed whatever I needed from my house, which was essentially just the rest of my steel and my hooded cloak. I donned the cloak and ran back outside where I saw him still waiting outside. We got ourselves ready to go, I looked back at my house one last time, then we turned to set off.

"Hey Violet?"

"Yea Van?"

"Where's the griffin territories?"

"Uhm… North."

"Shit. We can't exactly hop on the train and head up there, considering the guards are on their way, right?"

"Nope."

"How about we find another town we can find transportation out of?"

"Sure."

"...So where's another town?"

So 15 minutes later we found ourselves a couple miles out of town, hiding beside the railway that lead north. I planned to 'port both of us into one of the freight cars that usually was tacked onto the end of the trains that snaked across the country.

"I really don't want to teleport again." Van complained.

"Shut up and get ready, train's coming." I replied.

"I'm serious, teleporting is the weirdest thing ever. It feels like I'm being squeezed through a tube of toothpaste. Can't we just jump on while it's still going slow? What if you teleport us inside something?"

"That's not how it works. If you would end up somewhere you physically cannot be, the spell will put you on top of it. Now quit your whining. We teleport in 5 seconds." I told him, before abruptly 'porting us onto the train before counting. Van shook his head and when I cast an illumination spell so that we could see in the windowless metal car, I saw his face paler than it usually is.

"You're the one that wanted to pair up with a unicorn." I reminded him before he could say anything. Good thing, too, because he looked like he was about to open his mouth to say something. That taken care of, I took his recuperation time to glance about the car we were in, and saw only crates stacked along the walls. I dragged one over with my magic and hopped on top, lying on top of it to keep off of the cool metal. With a glance at my companion I dragged another one over in front of mine, and he jumped on top to sit on the side. Moments later we felt the lurch of the train setting off.

"How old are you?" He asked, after a few minutes of silence. I extinguished my spell just long enough for my regeneration to kick in, then I put my light up again. I thoroughly ignored his question, as well.

"Hey, Violet." Persistent, eh?

"Yes?"

"How old are you?"

I smirked, not like he could see it with my light in his face. "Guess."

"Just tell me. You owe me your life, I might as well know how much of it is left." Wow, that was very cold reasoning. Reasoning that led me to remember exactly why I owed him my life, and despite my uneasiness about it, I know I had to ask a vital question. Nopony walks around with that many weapons, and collects poison, just so that he has multiple ways of cutting his food.

"I'll tell you, if you tell me something." I started, and he must have sensed my hesitation because he let me continue with a nod of his head. "Does… does it…" I paused to collect my thoughts, then just resorted to bluntness as clarity is an obvious ally. "Do you ever get over killing something? Or will I remember this until I.. I die myself?" My voice was shaking, a show of weakness that I did my best to quell but was unable to suppress completely.

"No. Your first kill never leaves you. But you can't let it fade from memory, even if you could." He replied.

"Why not?!" I exclaimed. "I want nothing more than to forget what happened!"

"The day one can kill without remembering, without feeling guilt… That's the line between self-defense and murder. As soon as you forget your first kill, along with the regret and pain you feel afterwards, you might as well sign over your soul to Satan himself."

"Who's Satan?" I asked, momentarily sidetracked.

"The very real personification of evil. Not the point. Although it could help if you talked about.. it. How did you feel when you killed him? That first guard?"

I gulped and steadied myself. "I don't want to remember. I want to forget. I never want to kill again."

In a flash, Van had whipped out a dagger and jumped onto my back, pressing the dagger against my throat. "What do you feel!" He yelled, suddenly very aggressive.

I fought every instinct I had to buck, as I didn't feel like smiling from my throat. "Get off me." I growled lowly

"Your life is in danger, Violet! WHAT DO YOU FEEL!" He roared into my ear.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OR YOU LOSE THE ARM" I yelled right back.

He got off, jumped back to his crate, and sat down, putting his knife back up.

"If you had killed me while I was on your back, that would be self defense. Never hesitate to take a life if it means saving your own or the life of someone you truly love." He stated calmly, all traces of aggression gone from his features. "On the other end of the spectrum, do not kill if you do not have to. You can manipulate metal, it will be no issue to dull a blade to break a leg rather than cut it off."

"Never do that again." I growled, still upset at him… _mounting _me.

"I wasn't planning on it." He said with a smile. "You need to remember that feeling you just had. Sometimes in the world, it's kill or be killed. I know you didn't have much of an option in the forest, and in that circumstance, you did the right thing."

"How could murder ever be the right thing?" I asked him warily.

"Trust me, if you've seen any of the other things in that forest… You're lucky that it was only a manticore that showed up. If he had kept shining his light around like that there's no doubt that something far more dangerous could have seen it. So, tell me now: how did you feel when you killed him?"

I don't even want to know what's more dangerous than a manticore. Besides, with most of my belongings in my bag and nothing holding me in Ponyville anymore, I realized that I didn't ever need to go near the Everfree forest again. Well, until after I get my armor made anyways.

"I felt like I had to do it…" I replied, hesitantly at first but picking up momentum. "I felt like… like if I didn't I wouldn't even be able to live to regret it. I'm not ready to die yet, and I knew when I ran into that damned forest that something bad would happen. Maybe I wasn't prepared mentally for what actually happened, and maybe I reacted worse than I could have… But at the end of the day, I survived something nopony has in years. I'm alive, and I'd like to stay that way." By the end, I felt as if I was justifying my actions, and I also found that I had no problems with that.

"Good. I'd like you to stay alive too, if it isn't too much to ask."

Van's last comment left a solemn silence in the air, as far as I was concerned. Despite his crude way of going about it, I'm feeling a little better about my act of violence in the forest. My first kill… crazy. A week ago I wouldn't have imagined that a murder would be on my karmic list. Then again, a week ago I wouldn't have imagined having the amount of money I do either. I'd label it a bittersweet victory, if only because I'm still alive and slightly richer for it.

Maybe I'll just stick with this human for a bit. He seems pretty smart, dangerous enough to keep me safe while we make money, then I'll settle down somewhere quiet. Maybe have a garden and a well nearby so I don't have to go near population at all. It's a nice thought anyway.

Then something that I forgot about crossed my mind. "Vanidadh, I do have another question…"

"Not until you answer mine." he replied.

"What?"

"I asked how old you were."

"Oh, that. I'm about.. shit, somewhere in my late twenties. I stopped keeping track."

He smiled. "Let me guess, with nobody making a big deal about it, you didn't celebrate your birthday?"

I nodded dejectedly. "Something like that."

He laughed. "Don't be so down, kid. The only reason I realized I was getting old was because my hair started going grey. I figure that's from stress though, seeming as my body doesn't feel any worse than it did when I was your age."

I glared at him. "If you start calling me kid, I'll start calling you gramps, and how would that look in public?"

"Do I look like someone who cares about the public?"

"Point taken." With all of this talk I was able to push my emotions to the back of my mind, allowing the small talk to distract me. Though there is a reason it's called "small" talk, so I've decided not to record it. We talked about inconsequential things for most of the trip. After a while I realized that he drew me off of asking my question to him.

"So what happened to the humans?" His features darkened.

"Like I said, I'm the only one left." He replied.

"But where'd they go? Where did they come from? How come I haven't heard of them until I met you?"

"I'll answer one question about my past, and that's only because I'm feeling generous right now."

I thought long and hard about what question to ask him. I could find out where they lived, why they disappeared, what they were like… or I could find out more about the one in front of me.

"Why are you the only one left?"

"Well shit. Worst possible question you could ask." He replied, looking downtrodden.

"I'm sorry, You don-"

"I'll still answer. I told you I'd answer a question so I will." He took a deep breath in, then exhaled. "I wasn't always the last one left, as obvious as that is. There was me and two others that went out on a quest, and we failed it. We returned home to find it all… gone. Our homes were burnt down, and all that remained of our loved ones was ashes and bones. Not even animals survived. It was as if the sun itself had come down to earth to burn all we knew to a crisp." He took a moment to collect his words. "As the last three remaining members of an entire species, an entire planets worth of creation… well it was hard for a while. We tried to come up with a plan for repopulation, but with such a limited gene pool it was impossible. Food was too scarce for us to consider hiding away. Our final descision, we vowed to avenge the humans, however we could. We would do this even if it meant the death of us all. That's the thing about humans, we are the most determined race there is. We will, with our dying breaths, make sure that the rest of your life is hell. The search for the cause of the genocide took us all around the world, to places no man had ever been before. Eventually we found our aggressor, and we attempted to kill her but… she was too powerful. My best friend died in the first 5 seconds of the battle, and I was injured." He pulled up his shirt and turned around, revealing a meshwork of scars from cuts and burns that spanned his entire back, leaving it ridged like the mountains to the west. I sucked air through my teeth and let out a low whistle.

"Yea. It was a lot worse before it healed. After that, my last friend managed to cast a freezing spell on her, but we both knew it wouldn't last. So we ran, as hard and as fast as we could. We ran for a month. I would run all day and carry my friend while she slept, then at night she would stand guard while I slept. But it wasn't enough, not even close. We got caught with our backs to the sea, and nothing in front of us but for the coming storm that heralded our enemies arrival. She spent her life's energy opening a portal up to this place, and now here I am. I've been here between 5 and 7 years, though I haven't kept track. One day, I hope to go back, and finish what we started. Morgana must _die."_ He finished through gritted teeth. I lay where I was for a moment, drinking in the tragedy that is my partners story, his life. I had a few questions about it though.

"But, you say your last friend opened a portal here… that all life on your earth was gone… How did nopony notice it? I mean, I'm alive, so is all of Equestria… Where do you come from then?"

"I said one question, Violet. Maybe I'll explain more later." He brushed me off with.

"But-" The train shuddered, then our momentum began to slow.

He stood off of his crate. "We're slowing down. I say we get off here, find out where we are, and get some supplies. Your friend the blacksmith said to dress warm, and I don't know about you but I'd like a little more than a cloak and basic armor to keep me warm if we're going where I think we are."

I nodded in agreement. "Tell me one thing first though, Vanidadh. How is it you can be so angry, so intimidating one moment… Then the next pretend that everything's fine? How are you not hurting after what you just talked about?"

He turned away from me and slid open the door to the freight car, revealing the dusk coloured skyscape over fields of farmlands. "Practice."

That one word helped me understand this strange human more than most anything he's said, and I felt pity flow from me towards him. I would let him know, but he doesn't seem the type that wants to be pitied.

We waited in silence until the train slowed to a reasonable speed, then he jumped from the car, rolling to a stop among the high grass that surrounded the rail-line. I jumped soon after and hit the ground with a jolt. I tried to keep myself upright but ponies weren't meant to tuck-and-roll. He caught up to me and we looked further down the line where not a mile away stood a small outpost, comprising of only a few buildings all centred around the train station.

With our destination in sight, we trudged through the gradually chilling night air towards the soft glow of lanterns that pockmarked the streets, in search of supplies, directions, and a place to sleep for the night.


	6. Chapter 5: The State of Things

It took us a while to get into town and after some careful consideration, it was decided that I'd secure us a room then Van would just sneak inside. We weren't sure if the animosity in Ponyville was an isolated incident, and since we'd rather be sheltered during the rapidly cooling night we decided not to risk it.

There was a whole of one inn in the small town, and so that's the one I entered. It looked to be a modest place, there was a small dining area with like 3 wooden tables, each set for three. A fire was nearing its dying stages in the hearth. I saw a door that I presumed led to a kitchen. A set of stairs led up and there was a hallway filled with doors to my right.

"One moment please!" A male voice said from upstairs. I waited patiently as a light blue pegasus with a black mane came down from upstairs about 5 minutes later.

"Hello, sir. Welcome to the Marrisburg Inn. Is there something we can do for you?" She said in a scripted way, proving that the male voice from upstairs was still up there, and that this was likely an employee.

"Yes, I'd like somewhere to spend the night, and hopefully get something to eat." I replied.

"Well, this is the finest place to do just that in town." She answered in a manner that implied she believed everything but.

I hesitated. "Truly?"

I saw her eyes dart to a corner behind my left shoulder then back to me. "Of course."

"May I speak with the manager please?" I politely inquired. At this she flinched.

"He… he's busy, sir. If you'd like to wait I'm sure I could find out when he could see you..?"

"I wouldn't mind having some food to hold me over until he is free. Paid for in advance, of course." I said.

"Nonsense. I'll speak to my manager then get started on supper. You just have a seat wherever you please." She said sweetly and that's when the alarms in my head started going off again. I'm getting weird feelings about this place but we need a warm place for tonight, at least until we can get warmer clothes.

"Many thanks." I replied, and settled in to wait. Good thing I did, because it took the inn's owner a half an hour to finish whatever it was that he was doing and come down to meet me in the dining room. In the time I was waiting I saw the mare twice, once when she stoked the fire back up and another time when she brought me water and a salad. However the owner, he was a gruff looking grey earth pony with a cutie mark of a hearth fire, and he wasted no time whatsoever in coming over to my table. I noticed he had a necklace on that had keys strung on it.

"Name's Jalome. I'm the owner." Not much for words, is he?

"Evening, Jalome. I'd like to ask a few questions about your inn, before I decide on it."

He narrowed his eyes a bit. "As if you've got somewhere else to go in this bloody town?"

"My partner and I would rather sleep on the ground than in a questionable place."

"What are you implying?" He asked testily.

"Nothing, kind sir. I just need a room for two, no questions asked, no authorities called." I knew that Van was supposed to sneak in, but I'd feel bad taking the freebie. Talk about a bad time for a conscious.

"So long as the guard isn't busting down my doorstep, you can stay here. Provided you have the coin, that is. 100 bits for a room for two, 150 for a room for two and company."

"What kind of company?"

"I'll send my daughter in there. She knows what to do." Damnit, I knew I shouldn't have asked.

"Just a room tonight, sir. I find myself weary and eager to get to rest. Preferably one on the ground floor, with a window?" I levitated my coin purse out of my saddlebag and tossed the whole thing on the table. It took me some time to count to 100, and I placed those into the bag before pushing it across the table. He tugged a key off his necklace and handed it over.

"The room at the end of the hall is yours. Breakfast is at sunrise, checkout is after breakfast. No funny business." He said to me as he walked back to the stairs. "See you in the morning, maybe." Because that didn't sound ominous.

I sat at my table for about a minute until I remembered my partner that was still waiting outside. I got up and walked to my room, opening the door without the key because magic. I closed it behind me and fused the doors hardware until it literally did not open. I'd fix it in the morning.

My privacy secured, I opened up the window and flashed an illumination spell twice, our signal for him to make his way inside. It took him a minute to get to the window, and I moved back far enough that he could climb in. I lit the candles in the room up and took a look around.

Lying on one of the two beds was the innkeepers daughter, eyes wide. "Two tonight?" She gulped uncertainly.

Van turned to me. "The fuck, Violet?"

I spluttered. "I didn't put her there! The owner offered for 50 extra bits, but I said no!"

The mare got up and walked towards me, swaying her hips much more than was necessary. She turned around in front of me, swishing her tail so I could see quite a bit. She turned back and dropped her voice. "Now why would you say no, darling?"

I opened my mouth to answer but she pushed forward at me, probably trying to kiss me. I turned my head down and her lips caught my forehead.

"Stop." Van commanded. He said it in such an authoritative tone that I even stopped my train of thought to look at him. The pegasus backed away and sat back on the bed. I looked back at the girl and saw in her features that while she was trying to be seductive, it was reluctant.

"You don't have to do this." he continued on, and the more I thought about this the more pieces clicked into place.

"Yes, I do." She said, downtrodden. "If I don't, he'll kick me out. I'd freeze…"

A flash of red-hot rage crossed my body. "Stay here tonight." I started. "We'll tell him you did everything you were asked to tomorrow morning. You pack your things while we have breakfast, and you can come with us."

"No, she can't." Van declared. "You realize we're going somewhere even colder than here, right?"

"We'll get her new clothes, I don't know. We can't just leave her here like this! Who knows how many times she's had to… you know what I mean. What if it was your sister or daughter in this position? You'd murder whoever did this to her, no hesitation."

"I don't have any sisters or daughters." He replied. "but I do see your point. She doesn't have to come with us though. We can send her on a train back south. She can report him to the guards and we can keep on going."

I walked over to him and whispered in his ear. "Or she can come with us, and we gain a scout."

"We don't need a scout. We're taking trains until we find this Myth Buster guy, then taking trains right back home."

"Meh, I guess."

I turned to her. "How does that sound? We'll help you get out of here, and on the next train towards Canterlot."

Her eyes lit up. "R-really? Please! Oh please do! Anything to get me out of here!"

"Don't get too excited. We're heading on a train up to the griffin territories, so we'll only be with you until the station." Van said to her.

Her posture drooped a little bit. "Why in Celestia's name would you go up there? There's nothing but mountains, and private castles. Besides, trains don't go up there anymore."

"Can't tell you, not yet anyways." I replied. "and what do you mean, trains don't go up there anymore?"

She shifted back and forth nervously. "The griffins aren't allowing ponies across their borders. It started a couple months ago where trains just kept getting sent back, and eventually we just stopped running them."

"Any idea why?" Van asked her.

She shook her head. "No clue."

"Damn." Van said. "We're hoofing it from the closest town we can get to then."

"This is the closest town." She informed us. "We're about a week of walking from the only pass through the Gryphus Mountains."

Van and I looked at each other. "I dont suppose that it's easy to find this pass?"

She shook her head.

"Okay... New deal. We'll get you out of here if you can lead us to the pass." I said.

"I... I don't know the way by heart. Father has a map though, just hanging on his bedroom wall."

Well isn't that convenient? Van thought so too, apparently. Gauging by his reluctant sigh and his making for the window again, I assumed he was going to get it right now.

"Do you mind if your dad dies?"

We both looked at him in shock.

"Just checking, geez. Calm yourselves."

With that he slid open the window and popped out.

"Know now that when you're travelling with us, you pull your own weight." I said to her.

"Yes sir!" This mare is so happy to be leaving, it makes me wonder what else that monster of a father did to her. Poor mare... We spent a few moments in silence, during which I laid down in bed and she still sat on the other one.

"Why didn't you just fly away?"

"I would have, but-"

We were interrupted by a knock at the door. I bolted out of bed and levitated my spear metal out of my bag, separating it into about 15 spikes that I pointed at the door.

"Violet, open the damn door." I heard Van say, and at that I put my spear into normal form and un-fused the door, allowing him to push it open.

"Wha-" I started before Van cut me off.

"Bring your spear and come with me." His voice left no room for negotiation.

The made started toward the door as well but he held up a hand. "Stay here." He said. She sat back on the bed with a confused look and a hesitant nod. I followed Van as he walked right to the stairs going up, and into an open door.

Inside I saw a very disturbing sight. The innkeeper was lying on the ground with his throat slit three times, a pool of blood surrounding his body. The only sign of a scuffle was the open window and the messy state of the bed. Claw marks were gouged out of the wooden floor, but otherwise the room looked pristine.

"What the fuck..?" I said absentmindedly.

"I know, right?" He replied.

"Did you..."

"No. I guessed a griffin, due to the claw marks on the floor, and the slashed throat."

I looked carefully and knew he was probably right. I levitated the map over and Van grabbed it out of the air.

"We should probably leave." I said.

He shook his head. "We'll sleep in shifts. We need check the rest of the place and find out who this guy was that he'd be killed."

I saw his knowledge and reluctantly agreed. "You take first shift though. I'm tired."

"Fine. Go get some sleep, but lock the doors and windows. Can you melt the hardware on them?"

I smirked. "I'll do what I can."

As I left the room I melted all the hardware from the doors into a lump that I held out in front of me.

After that I walked down the stairs into the main hall. What I did was go into the store room and, after levitating the lump of metal in front of me, I proceeded to melt everything metal into the ball in the centre of the room. I took that and walked into the dining room, doing the same.

I placed the incredibly heavy ball on the floor, which creaked but held under its weight. I then took the hardware from all the doors in the downstairs hallway and brought that metal over to sit beside the first one. I separated them all out into sheets of metal, which I then split into strips.

That done I started placing these bars over the windows and doors, reinforcing all the first floor entryways.

I took what remained of the metal mixture and, taking on one bar at a time, melted them into the door to our room. I left a few more which I put into the window while ignoring the mares questions. After I did that I turned to her.

"Your fathers dead."

Her mouth went from rapid fire questions to agape with shock. That quickly turned to anger. "I'll kill that thing!" She made for the door but I turned the bars in it into wedges and shot them into the door frame, effectively locking the door. No matter how strong she was, metal is often enough to stop most pegasi if not an earth pony.

"Nopony goes in or out tonight."

"You're kidding, right?" He rage turned solely to me. "He's gotta pay!"

"He didnt kill your father. It was a griffin."

Aaand there's the confusion. All thoughts of getting out the door seemed to leave her mind, and I realized that it was my turn to start asking questions. "What's your name?"

She answered me in a trance. "Dew Drop."

"Okay, Miss. Dew Drop. Why would a griffin attack your father?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea."

I sighed internally. "Look, we're trying to keep you safe tonight because apparently your dad did something wrong to them. He had it coming and-" she opened her mouth but I shut it with magic. "and thankfully I'm glad we didn't have to do it. Your best bet is to keep your anger, and hold it. We're on our way to the griffin territories, and you're guiding us there. There's nothing to stop us from helping you find the guy responsible, though I have no idea why you'd want to." I released my magic.

"Really?" She said after some thought. She sat on the floor by the door, and looked to be going over the plan in her head. I could tell she wasn't going to say no when a fiery determination light up her eyes.

"Deal." She said.

"Alright, now I'm buckin' tired so if you'll excuse me... I advise you to get some rest as well. If I don't wake up when Van knocks on the door, answer it. I'll unlock most of the door but if you break out we'll notice."

She nodded.

That done I turned to the bed and laid down, collapsing into a deep sleep.

* * *

The next thing I knew was Van pushing me off the bed onto the floor.

"Where's the girl?"

I blinked, then squinted into the light. Apparently he'd found a lantern.

"Huh...?"

"You know, the mare."

A light clicked on in my head, and I glanced over to see her bed disturbed but her gone. "Shit."

"I thought you said you'd lock the doors, idiot?"

I glared at him. "I did and the windows, too."

"Both floors?"

...oops.

"No, only the bottom."

"She's a pegasus dude..." He sighed.

"We'll I'd guess she didn't leave long ago. We can catch her."

He looked at me. "I found a trap door in one of the bedrooms. Thanks for unlocking everything."

"No problem."

"I went down there and found a weird stone door I couldn't open. Can you take a look?"

I nodded, eager to make up for my mistake. "You go after her?"

"That was my plan." He replied.

"Where will we meet up?"

He pulled out the map, and handed it to me. "I've copied some directions to the place. We'll meet at the entrance to the pass."

"Sure."

He left after he got me to unlock the front. I locked it behind him, then went back to the room. I gathered everything I had there so I could leave after I checked the door then left the room. I held my spear by my side and sighed when I realized that I didn't know what room held the trap door. It took a bit of searching but I found a weird seam under a floor mat.

I opened it and went down the stone stairs beneath it, lighting a illumination spell. In front of me was a stone door with a spiral pattern in it. Numbers decorated each spiral so I deduced a code lock. I sent a tendril of magic into it and sensed metal so I aligned the lock and the numbers spun into place.

The door sank into the ground flush with the floor and I walked into the darkness beyond. My spell lit up the area and I found a torch bracketed in the wall. I used a fire spell and lit the torch. I used the help of that light to illuminate the other torches, then extinguished my own spell. I took a good look around. Maps on tables, maps on walls, faces with strings in them, more maps, a wall of scrolls. The room appeared to be some sort of planning room.

I looked closely at the larger map on the wall and saw that it highlighted a route through the pass between Gryphus and Equestria. I moved on to the faces and saw pictures of griffins. The wall of scrolls most likely held the most wealth so I directed my attention there.

I took a few scrolls at random of the shelf.

_April 12, 6._

_April 13, 2._

_April 14, 0, 2 casualties._

_April 15, 3, 2 casualties._

_April 16, 1, 4 casualties._

_April 17, 0, 7 casualties._

_April 20, 0, 15 casualties_

_Those idiots can't take a hint, can they?_

The writing stopped. I grabbed as many scrolls as I could, and stuffed them into my bag, along with the faces and the map of the pass. I walked to the door and scattered all the paper into a pile on the floor. I turned my spear into a sword and cut the tables. I levitated the wood on top of the fire then sent a torch after it. The paper lit up without any issues and I ran up the stairs.

I unlocked the front door then telehopped my way along the northward train track for a few minutes, before I 'ported off to the side and took a moment to enjoy my quick regeneration time with magic. I used that time to consult with the map that I pulled out of the underground chamber. Seeing that there was a marked path going north on the tracks for a while, then over towards the east, I bet on catching them before noon. If it takes a week to get to the pass, then we'll be on the tracks for at least four days.

I put the map back and set to telehopping along the tracks as fast as I could.

It only took me another hour to reach them, to my credit. And after that hour I heard a clanging sound and rushed towards it. I ran through the forest to my left and saw Van under attack by an armored griffin that wielded a spear and shield in its claws and was using its wings to dart about. Van was doing his best with his two swords to swat the spear back, and I dashed towards him.

I threw my spear at the griffin but it glanced off the shield. It turned and snarled at me as I whipped my spear back towards me.

"Good timing."

"Yea, talk later Van."

"After you heal the mare."

"Which is after we kill this random for making me have to?"

"Yea."

I split my spear into two and sent them around the sides of the griffin to spear into it, but it deflected one with its shield and evaded the other with a powerful thrust of its wings. Van leapt up but was kept at bay by the spear. I split my spear again so that I had four, and launched them from different angles one after another. It dodged the first three but the fourth went right through its wing.

The griffin was still up and flying though. I took my metal and made it into a sharpened propeller. I began spinning it and I whirled it at the griffin but before it hit my foe, he dropped out of the sky. The propeller cut a couple of small trees before wedging into a larger tree behind where our foe had been flying. As for the griffin, it lay on the ground with an arrow in the base of each wing. I saw it try to rise but its attempts soon turned to shaking and convulsing.

Luckily Van called for my attention when his mouth started foaming so I didn't have to watch anymore, but my guess was that I just saw his manticore venom at work. He waved me over and I saw Dew Drop lying on the ground, a gash in her side steadily bleeding.

"Shit, what happened?"

"Heal her, we can talk later."

I nodded and hastily yanked my spellbook out of my saddlebag, flipping it open then through the pages until I saw healing. I did as the book said and channeled magic to my horn before reciting the incantation in my head. With a trademark glow, the wound in Dew's began to close. After it stopped bleeding I cut off the spell, waiting for my energy to slip back before healing her the rest of the way. Her unconscious face went from pain to relaxed as she continued to sleep.

"Okay so what happened? Where'd you find her?"

"I left the house. I found the girl on her way back. We came back to the house and knocked. You didn't answer. We decide to start on our way there, and she decided to fly ahead. I saw the griffin flying at her and yelled a warning. If I hadn't, she would have died." He summed up. "Since that happened I've been fending this guy off. Then two minutes later you show up and here we are." The end of his sentence was punctuated by a death rattle coming from the griffins dying body.

"Oh, that reminds me. I found out where the mare was." He adds, before jogging past a tree, then back with a large bag. He pulled out a heavy cloak with a hood, as well as sleeves for all my legs. He had another one with no sleeves, and yet another one like mine. He laid the mares over her and tossed mine at me. I caught it in mid-air and took a moment to put it on, doing up the hood. It even had a slot for my horn. I felt a weight in a pocket and pulled it out to find my bag of bits, now significantly lighter. Van's looked more like a cape but they were all a dark gray. I tossed my other cloak into my saddlebag along with my spellbook, after pulling out the things I grabbed from the Inn. I handed them over to Van. "See what you can make of this."

I took the large map and examined the route. It did in fact have us go north on the tracks until they hit the mountain. The train goes through a tunnel, and the pass is a couple of days of walking to the east. I figured we could make it in four days if we really tried.

"Where did you find all of this?" Van asked me.

"Where do you think?" I replied. "The door had a metal lock so I opened it easily. The place was full of maps."

"Is this all?"

I nodded. "I grabbed what I could and burned the rest."

He let out a thankful sigh. "Good. Did you already read this?"

"Only one scroll."

"Well I'll sum it up then. The griffin territories are in the middle of a civil war." Well that makes things harder.

"There's two factions, one is pro-slaves and the other doesn't agree. These dossiers are of high ranking nobility that support the slave trade."

Plot thickens.

"Our innkeeper was smuggling slaves out of Old Gryphus, into Equestria. But then something went wrong with the route, I think. Around April casualties from runs through the pass were reaching unacceptable levels, so the slave train was stopped."

"Does anypony know why?"

"You know, you can say anybody." I stared at him. "I would have known what you meant." He continued. "It seems rather exclusive, right? I mean, I'm not a pony. We're heading up to see some griffins, and they're not ponies. Just say anybody, it makes life easier."

"Meh." I said, as a very effective counter-argument. "Does any_body_ know why?"

"No." Van replied. "But we're going through the pass so I'm sure we'll find out."

"We won't get closer by sitting here." I said, with a glance towards the dead griffin lying not 20 feet from us.

"Agreed. Can you carry her?" He said with a gesture at Dew Drop.

"She does have a name, you know."

"What is it?"

"Ask her when she gets up."

"I will. But can you carry her?" He asked again.

"Yea, no problem. Just let me put this crap away." I stuffed the notes back into my saddlebag. I took a moment to linger on the faces. With a sudden realization, I shouted to Van. "Hey, let's check this guy, see if he's on our list of faces." Without answering he headed over to the dead griffin as I got the appropriate sheets out of my bag. I levitated the unconscious Dew Drop over with me and laid her gently down. That done I spread out the papers in front of us.

"They all look the same." Van pointed out.

"Yea, besides for clothes. This one isn't wearing any. I guess we leave him here?"

"We were going to leave him here regardless. I say we walk along the tracks for a while, then make camp before it gets dark."

"Fine by me." I said. "I'll carry Dew Drop and telehop. Just like we did with the manticore."

He shrugged. "Okay. But now I don't have to ask her for her name."

I rolled my eyes and levitated her in front of me, making my way through the forest with my spear still by my side. After a couple minutes we reached the tracks, and from there it was telehopping, camping, and foraging for food.

There's a reason why most people skip over the traveling in their memories, because its usually dull, monotonous, and utterly the same routine.

Two things of note happened though. The first was when Dew woke up.

She basically looked at Van. "If I may ask... What are you?"

Van looked back. "What are _you_?"

"I'm a pegasus." She replied.

"I'm a human." He said back.

"Did you heal me?"

"No, that was Violet."

She turned her attention to me. "When did you get here?"

Van cut in before I could say anything. "When he helped me kill the griffin that attacked you."

"You did?"

I nodded. "Yea."

"Sorry for stealing your bits. I wanted to be useful so I got those cloaks that I see you found."

I stared at her. "How'd you find a shop that would make custom cloaks in the middle of the night?"

"There's only one in Marrisburg."

I narrowed my eyes. "That doesn't answer my question."

Vanidadh crossed his arms, and made no move to stop my questioning. The mare looked down, gulped then looked back at me. "One of my fathers friends slept over a lot. He..." She caught her breath. "had no problem exchanging a favor for a favor."

I stared at her in shock, but again was unable to say anything as Van stepped in. "Thanks."

I stammered a bit as she nodded. "You didn't have to... But..." I shut my mouth for a second to gather a complete sentence. "There should have been more than enough bits. I would have understood."

She looked at me like I was an idiot. "You had enough for maybe one premade cloak, of his lightest material. I got us three, made custom, and of a material he had saved for the mayor of Marrisburg."

I let out a small chuckle. "That town has a mayor?"

"Well it's glad to know my efforts are appreciated by somepony-"

Van spoke up. "Somebody."

She glanced at him. "What?"

I took over. "We went over this while you were asleep. Don't you think that saying somepony is a bit... I don't know, it'd make Van feel left out because he's not a pony. And we _are_ on our way into an mostly griffin populated area. It just makes sense to say somebody."

"Meh." That's what I said! "Then let me rephrase. It's glad to know my efforts are appreciated by somebody."

"That's not what I meant. I said I'd keep you safe and we could have stopped by before we left town. You didn't have to take off like you did."

"Aww, he cares." Shut up Vanidadh.

"I just keep my word. That's a little hard to do if you take off while I'm asleep."

Van nudged me. "Take it easy on her. We couldn't have afforded what we got, and you have some left over. Doesn't matter if the griffin territories are using bits or not, gold is worth it weight. And you can just melt all the bits down."

"Just..." I sighed. "Warn us if you take off."

"Maybe. Where are we?" I hate maybes. Give me a yes, or give me a no. It's that simple.

"We turned off the track this morning. About three days from the pass, less if you feel like you can fly."

She got to her feet, shakily but surely. She flapped her wings slowly as if to test them, then shook her head. "Even that is tiring."

"Healing does take energy from the recipients own body. You look malnourished, how often did your dad feed you?"

"I ate bread and flowers daily!"

"How often?"

She looked down again. "Once."

I looked at Van and he looked back. "Lunch break?"

He nodded. "Get a fire going." He always had me get a fire going so he could cook whatever he hunted. Thankfully he kept it to small stuff like squirrels and rabbits.

He dashed into the woods. "See what you can find around here for pony food." I told Dew. "Call out if anything happens, I won't be far."

She nodded and began searching the ground for any edibles. I hoped she knew what was and wasn't edible, because I didn't. After changing my spear into a sword and cutting branches off of trees, I managed to gather a pile of wood that should last an hour or two. I set that up in a pit that I quickly dug, then torched it for a few seconds with a fire spell. I again thanked my luck in getting the magic enchanted thing that I turned into a horn cover.

It took a bit of time to light the wet wood but it eventually caught. The smoke flew thick into the sky but I didn't worry. By the time Van came back, the fire was healthy and relatively smoke free, and I had the rest of the wood positioned around it to dry it as much as I could.

I only noticed Vans arrival with the thump of him letting this days meal onto the ground. I disregarded him as he set his knife to work. I'd already seen this, and threw up the first time. After that he'd cooked it and eaten it. I almost threw up again. After that I'd gotten less and less bothered by it every time he did it. Now it barely phased me. Such was not the case with Dew Drop.

In fact when he plopped his small boar down between us she scrambled away while hyperventilating.

"Van eats meat. You'll get over it." I said before she could ask. She came over and grabbed her stack of vegetation under her wings somehow. She dragged it to the opposite side of the fire and continued eating. She never said a word.

I sat and poked my spear into the burning logs, readjusting them before I levitated and placed a new log on top. I kept tending the fire while Van skinned the pig. In her defense she only winced when he cut off the head, but as soon as he started pulling guts out she caved. With a flap of her wings and much slipping of her hooves, she dashed into the forest. We heard the sound of wrenching and I shook my head in pity.

"Hey, I remember when you-"

"Shut up."

He chuckled. "Can you give me a stick?"

I split a sliver off of my spear-turned-fire-poker and stuck it into the ground. "Well shit, I forgot. Make me a frying pan, Violet."

"Make me a frying pan, what?"

"Make me a frying pan please." Well, if he said please…

I made him one, and he wasted no time cutting some strips off the boar and putting them into the crude pan. He looked at me expectantly and I resigned, sighing as I split even more metal off my spear. I shaped this into a makeshift grill, molding it around a few thick branches that I wedged into the ground. He threw a couple of chops on beside the pan and we waited.

Eventually Dew made her way back and there was a unanimous silent decision not to speak of why she had to leave. The smell of meat cooking in the air was rather good, to be honest. Don't judge me if you've never smelled it! I'd imagine that with the insides and most waste gone, the sight wasn't near as gruesome. She managed to sit where she was before, and resumed eating her vegetables.

Eventually she finished, and sat by the fire as we waited for Van. That's when I realised with a growl from my midsection that I was hungry. "Hey, did you save me any food?" I asked the pegasus.

"No." She at least had the decency to appear embarrassed.

"Damn."

Van interrupted me by flipping the pan of meat strips onto the grill, where they dripped grease. He took the spike I gave him before and speared the chops that he had put onto the grill, then the strips. He held up the stick of meat. "I'm good, let's go."

"I haven't eaten yet!" I protested. He pulled a strip off of his skewer and tossed it at me. I caught it with magic. "But… but ponies don't eat meat?"

He sighed and looked at me. "Beggars can't be choosers."

I stared at him but he just nodded to the food. Cautiously, I brought it up to my mouth. "If this kills me, I'm coming back to haunt you." Before he responded I shoved half the strip into my mouth and bit down hard. I yanked out the remainder with magic and chewed the squishy, yet somehow crispy meat. A flavor filled my mouth that I'd never experienced before, one of… I couldn't describe it but damn was it tasty. The texture threw me off a little, but I soon got over that. I swallowed then threw the rest of that strip into my mouth, savouring every moment of it.

"So how do you like bacon?"

I whipped my head back to Van. "Give me another one." He shook his head.

"Dew."

She looked up from where she sat. "Yes?"

"Scout our path ahead. Find Violet something to eat, while you're at it."

"Why do I have to?" she complained.

"Because I want to see if you can fly." Van replied. "Now go."

She took off with a running start, but still managed to get up. After she got into the air her confidence grew and she soared off above the woods.

"Just give me one more." I asked of Vanidadh, but he again shook his head. "You've never eaten meat before in your life. if I give you too much now you _will_ get sick." I reluctantly took his advice and after kicking the fire out we made our way in the direction that Dew had taken off in.

* * *

Our trip proceeded somewhat like that for the next couple of days before the second notable event happened. We had gotten close to the pass but we camped out one more night, just so we had the whole day tomorrow to get through. I for one didn't want to be stuck in a mountain pass when night fell, and Dew echoed my aversion. Van eventually conceded and we made camp.

In the morning Van gave me some smoked meat that he'd made the day before in our downtime. I enjoyed it, but it didn't have the same explosion of flavor that his 'bacon' did. I got over it, as with a decent amount of foraging we were all ready to go. We began our walk to the pass entrance with Vanidadh in front, me behind him, and Dew taking up the rear. We walked for about an hour before Van threw up his arm for us to stop. I almost ran into him but I managed to stop. Dew landed beside me, and together we walked up to him. He pointed through the bushes and moved out of the way so that I could see.

"Shit."

We saw a line of about 4 beat up, depressed griffins being led out of the pass by another one that was covered in plate armor, including that annoying plume of red feathers that are supposed to represent something. He exuded an aura of total control, and though that might make his allies feel at ease, it was doing terrors for the obviously imprisoned group. They weren't being treated wrongly as far as I could see but Van pulled out his bow and nocked an arrow, not yet drawing it back. I saw four other griffins that wore chainmail and I easily pieced two and two together. This was what had stopped the slave train. They were recapturing the slaves just as they got before they got into Equestria!

"Stay here." Van said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"We have to help them." I countered sternly.

"We will. Be ready on my signal. We leave the one with the fancy hat alive, because I want answers." I nodded.

"What's the signal?" Of course he leaves before telling me the signal! What a dick…

"Stay put, we'll get this." I whispered to Dew Drop. I cast a muffling spell on myself before I pulled my spear metal out of my saddlebag and extended it to its full form. I split it into 10 spikes that I floated around me, ready to either impale an aggressor or launch as a ranged attack. That done, I crept towards the gathering at the pass entrance. The one in large armor appeared to be talking. I heard the end of his speech when i got close enough. "...must die!" _Shit!_

I was too late as one of the chainmail clad griffins raked his claws across the throat of the first griffin in line. He held his own claw up to the wound but he collapsed onto the ground. The griffin raised his claw to strike at the next in line but suddenly an arrow was sticking out of his own throat. He gurgled then fell to the ground as his motor control left him. The rest of the griffins present looked in shock, then another arrow found a gap in the armor of another one of the chainmailed griffins, making two of their count dead.

After that they got straight to action, with the other two lesser ranked grifs flew at where they thought Vanidadh was. I had no way to tell if they were right but I didn't want to take a chance that they were. I sent four of my spikes at them and saw one go cleanly through both wing of one of the griffins, sending it flopping to the ground. The other only took a hit to one wing but another spike got him in his back leg. He flapped to stay up but that effort was cut short as yet another arrow sailed out of the forest. This one hit the griffin right in the chest and it fell to the rocky ground beneath it. It didn't move again, and I saw the last griffin try to scramble away before another arrow whizzed into his eye.

I retrieved my spikes and rushed into the clearing around the pass entrance. I positioned the spikes around the pony in the plate armor and glared at him until Van hopped in from a tree.

The two of us stood on opposite sides of him and I began to orbit my spikes around our captive. He smirked once before reaching a claw into his armor. He pulled out something that he popped into his mouth, then his eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed. I dropped the spikes and rushed over but by the time I got there Van was already checking for a pulse. He shook his head and I stomped the ground.

A whimper brought our attention over to the other three slaves. They had shackles on all four legs and another weird contraption that held their wings together. Thick binds of cloth held their beaks closed. I gathered all the pieces of my spear and melded them back together, keeping the weapon at my side as I walked over while Van went to collect his arrows from the dead bodies of the griffins.

"I'm going to cut off the gags, but don't talk yet." I waited until they all nodded before taking a small peice of metal off my spear and using it as a knife to cut the cloth. True to their word (spoken or not) they stayed silent.

"Who are you and why were you being held hostage?" Might as well get it from them.

Two of the griffins looked to the one in the middle and it spoke up.

"I'm Rathgur." It growled. "Right hand to Harriot, and..." He paused, and I took his delay to examine him. He had a scar running down his flank, my guess a claw gouge. His feathers were dirty and brown, but all three of the griffins were the same. I was distracted from my observations when he spoke again.

"Replacement leader of the revolution." I smiled, but not just a happy smile. _This will cash in for a damn big favor..._

* * *

**Alright! So we've gotten a bit of insight as to how things are going in the griffin territories, we have a new travelling companion for now, and you guys are getting a taste for the darkness that Equestrian Earth has fallen into. **

**Unfortunately I leave for military school in about 10 hours so I won't be able to write anything until thanksgiving. Worry not, as I have most of the next chapter planned out. **

**I'm going to miss writing this more than you'll miss reading it, guaranteed. But for now, here's a fond "See you soon!"**

**~HHR**


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